Head coach Andy Reid heads into Sunday's NFC East game against Washington with a lot of uncertainty surrounding his football team. Not only is rookie Nick Foles going to make his NFL starting debut, Reid's offense has major question marks in other areas.
An offense that has yet to get it all together this season has some personnel issues to deal with against a Washington defense riddled for much of the year by injuries. Not only has Reid had to get his rookie quarterback up to speed this, he's had to find a way to get some answers along the offensive and at wide receiver.
- Right guard Danny Watkins is listed as questionable for Sunday and Reid sounded anything but certain that Watkins would start against the Redskins after returning to practice this week as he tries to overcome his ankle injury. Should Watkins not play, the Eagles could stick with Dennis Kelly at right guard, or perhaps the Eagles will use Matt Tennant or newly signed Jake Scott at right guard.
"What you end up getting with (the ankle injury Watkins has) is tweaks in there," said Reid. "It hinders your lateral mobility. I was proud of him for getting out here and doing what he did. He did a nice job with it. He is making progress. We'll just see how he does in the next couple of days."
When asked what his plans are should Watkins not play, Reid was elusive.
"We'll see. I've got a couple of things in there that I'm working with," said Reid.
Reid said that Scott, signed on Monday, took some reps in practice during the week, as did Tennant.
- Jason Avant (hamstring) is out for this game, as is Mardy Gilyard (hamstring), leaving four healthy receivers for the Eagles on Sunday. Who replaces Avant in the slot?
"We've got four receivers and they're all going to play. They all have a role," said Reid, not hinting a bit as to who will play the slot in place of Avant. "Jason is one of the best in the business as an inside slot receiver, so we will use a couple of different people in there, move guys around and do what we need to do."
- On Foles, Reid said the rookie had a good week of practice and had some exposure to the noise -- the Eagles practiced two days inside at the NovaCare Complex -- preparing for FedEx Field. Foles used the silent count in preseason road games at Cleveland and New England.
- Only Foles and Trent Edwards are healthy at the quarterback position, and Reid said he hasn't yet considered adding another quarterback. Should the Eagles reach an emergency situation, Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson would likely go in and play quarterback.
