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Players to worry about

In the course of perusing the news today I noticed a common thread that pops up this time of year. The preseason for almost every first string player is over and now is the time where people start to look at who stepped up in preseason and who has been a let down. Just to start off on a positive note, you won't find a member of the media, analyst, or fan that hasn't been truly impressed by what Brodrick Bunkley has done so far this preseason. Peter King recently  singled out Bunk in his MMQB column.

Eagles defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley, who was a waste of a roster spot last year in Philly, after being a mid-first-round pick. Now he's playing like the interior space-eater he was drafted to be. Embarrassed by his poor play and his weight last year, Bunkley reported in shape this year and is playing like a house possessed.

Not surprisingly, writers have tended to focus on the negative a bit more. There were a few I found particularly interesting,

First Gary Cobb has been critical of Jevon Kearse all offseason and preseason and he's concerned about the Phreak this year. He talks about how McNabb, despite all the stories written about him, was in Philly all offseason working hard and getting back into form.

On the other hand you can't say the same about Jevon Kearse, who has done virtually nothing in the games this preseason.  Kearse was hurt in the 2nd game of last season.  McNabb was hurt nearly two months later in week number 10, yet  Kearse is the one having knee swelling and sitting out games.  He has failed to make any big plays during the preseason.  Plus, I don't see the sprinter speed any more when Kearse is pursuing the ball.  I expected him to run down one of the screens or at least show up in the screen.  Jevon was a non-factor.  In fact,  his backup Juqua Thomas has outplayed him.

Frankly, how can you argue with him? Kearse has done nothing this offseason despite that fact that he was claiming last year that if he wasn't on the IR he would have been able to play in the playoffs last year.

Did anyone hear Andy Reid's quote when asked about Jeremy Bloom?

Reid was asked to evaluate Jeremy Bloom's return work in the team's first three preseason games.

"He's done just OK," the coach said.

"Just OK" probably isn't good enough for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations, which makes you wonder if the Eagles would consider bringing someone else in for return duties before the Sept. 9 season opener at Green Bay.

Outside of that first game against Baltimore, I would characterize Bloom's play as "just okay." Honestly, I've just been chalking it up to poor blocking on the part of the kick return team. At least on TV I haven't seen all that many holes, but if Andy is unhappy with Bloom he must be seeing something I'm not.

Iggles Blog brings us maybe most the chilling example of a player to worry about with their video review of Chris Gocong's performance against Pittsburgh. Derek does a great job highlighting him play by play and the results aren't pretty.

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