Will Witherspoon wore No. 54 during the height of his success in Carolina. Witherspoon was No. 51 in St. Louis.
Instead of asserting his will, pardon the pun, and negotiating with Joe Mays for No. 51, Witherspoon will sport No. 50 with the Eagles.
As for his role with the team, Witherspoon has already been listed as the starter on the depth chart at the MIKE linebacker position. Head coach Andy Reid said during his conference call Tuesday that Witherspoon will "fill in what Omar (Gaither) did." Gaither suffered a foot sprain in Sunday's loss to the Raiders and is visiting with a specialist today. Reid does not expect to have Gaither available for Monday's game.
Witherspoon will join his new teammates for a meeting this afternoon. The team returns to the practice field on Thursday to prepare for the Monday night showdown against the Washington Redskins. We'll have complete coverage of Witherspoon's first practice with the team on Eagles Live! with Dave Spadaro on Thursday beginning at 11 AM.
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 11:40 a.m., October 21
