NFL: Eagles’ Andrews to see a back specialist
By Bob Brookover
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Shawn Andrews is off to Los Angeles and Danny Amendola is headed to St. Louis.
Andrews broke the news of his departure on his Twitter account Tuesday, announcing that it was “time to head to LA”, where he is expected to be examined by specialist Robert Watkins this week. Watkins is the doctor who operated on the tackle’s back in October.
An Eagles spokesman said he did not know when Andrews would see Watkins. Andrews’ agent, Rich Moran, did not want to say when the appointment would take place. Andrews is expected to continue his rehab in Southern California after being examined by Watkins.
Amendola, meanwhile, was signed off the Eagles’ practice squad by the St. Louis Rams. St. Louis general manager Billy Devaney told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the former Texas Tech wide receiver would return punts and kickoffs Sunday when the Rams play the Green Bay Packers.
It will be Amendola’s first NFL game after spending the last two training camps with the Dallas Cowboys and Eagles. Amendola had a solid preseason for the Eagles, catching four passes for 53 yards. He also returned five punts for 69 yards and four kicks for 91 yards.
Amendola’s departure will likely lead to a spot on the practice squad for former Penn State wide receiver Jordan Norwood, who was released by the Cleveland Browns earlier this month.
Norwood, who signed with the Browns as an undrafted rookie after the draft in April, had 158 career catches for 2,015 yards and 13 touchdowns at Penn State. As a senior, the 5-foot-7, 171-pound receiver caught 41 passes for 637 yards and six touchdowns. Norwood did not have any catches for the Browns during the preseason. The Eagles said Tuesday that Norwood was scheduled to work out in the early evening.
Vick visits school. Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who is scheduled to return to the playing field Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, made his second appearance at a Philadelphia school Tuesday, but the team apparently did not want anyone to know about it.
According to several reports, Vick visited the Pepper Middle School in Southwest Philadelphia, where he spoke to sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
“We all control our own destiny,” he told the students, according to a report on the Web site of KYW-AM (1060). “You control your own destiny. Do the right things. And like I always tell people, it’s easy to do the wrong things, and it’s hard to do the right things.”
The report said Vick never mentioned dogfighting and instead spoke of avoiding bad decisions.
Attempts to reach Eagles spokeswoman Pamela Crawley for comment were not successful.