This was some bad, and unexpected news. Andy Reid announced today that DE Victor Abiamiri, who was expected to mount a serious challenge for the starting LDE spot, will be out until mid August with a strained pectoral muscle. Abiamiri picked up the strain while lifting weights.

The positive spin would be that "mid August" is really only about 3 weeks away. Practice doesn't start in earnest until this Friday, so if Abiamiri comes back on time and fully healed he should be there for the Eagles preseason opener. That should give him plenty of time to get into game shape. Plus, this is "just" a muscle strain and not as serious as his previous injuries.

The negative spin(and frankly more realistic IMO) is that Abiamiri's injury puts him behind once again. He started his rookie year hurt, he started last year hurt, and now his starts his 3rd year hurt. VA is quickly starting to earn the dreaded "injury prone" tag and is looking less and like a guy that the Eagles should be depending on.

Abiamiri showed some very positive things down the stretch last year and his third year was(is?) supposed to be the one where he was finally healthy and ready to to take a starting job. While this injury doesn't mean that won't happen, it certainly does make his starting in week one and having a breakout year less likely.