Jerome McDougle has appeared in only three games for the Giants this season, with one tackle to show for it. Not exactly a banner year. But he won't complain. And he definitely won't sulk.

Because three years ago, McDougle learned just how silly it is to get disappointed over stuff like playing time.

How about being at the wrong place at the wrong time, running into the wrong people and the next thing you know your life is changed in an instant?

That's what apparently happened to McDougle at 11:37 p.m. on July 28, 2005, the night before he was to fly north for Eagles training camp. According to police accounts in newspapers, McDougle was sitting in his silver Mercedes at a street corner in Miami awaiting a friend when four youths aged 15 to 17 approached.

"They gave me an ultimatum," the defensive lineman said yesterday as he sat in front of his locker after practice.

They demanded his watch and his cash, according to the newspaper accounts.

With a gun pointed at him, McDougle handed over his watch. As he rose to get his wallet, one of the robbers apparently panicked and shot McDougle in the stomach.

"I did what he told me to do," he said, "and he still shot me."

McDougle stood and lifted his shirt to show a vertical scar above his navel. Next to the scar is a tattoo that says, "True Story." And if that isn't enough proof, he still has a piece of the bullet somewhere in his stomach. Every time he goes for an MRI, McDougle said it's right there on the screen.

For the Giants this week, guns have been an unwanted theme. Steve Smith had one pointed at his head in a robbery attempt outside his home last week, and days later Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the thigh in a New York City nightclub and now faces criminal weapon possession charges.

You might think this sequence of gun-related events would bring back unwanted memories to McDougle, but he made it clear that is not the case. Once he recovered from his injuries, he said he decided to turn this experience into a positive.

McDougle always has enjoyed speaking to youths, but after he was shot he said he turned his focus to troubled teenagers - the exact demographic of people who changed his life forever. He wants to have a positive impact on them.

"Don't worry about adversity," McDougle said he tells the kids. "Stay focused on the goal, the prize."

If Smith wanted to speak to someone about the trauma of having a gun pointed at his head, McDougle is right across the locker room.

"The biggest thing with me was the trust issue," he said. "I was never spooked, or anything like that. It was just learning again how to trust people, trust situations."

Florida records show that McDougle has a concealed- weapons license that expires next April, but McDougle refused to discuss that, citing the sensitivity of the issue in the wake of Burress' incident.

"It will make you a prisoner if you let that get to you," McDougle said of the experience. "If you let it dictate how you're going to live your life, you're going to be in your house all day."

(news-day.com)

If there is one game Jerome McDougle wants to be activated for, this is it. The former first-round pick of the Eagles was cut by them just before the season, landing with the Giants to provide depth on the defensive line. He's been inactive for five games and played sparingly in three.

"I'm probably going to be playing at some point here," he said. "It's a long season and I'm going to be ready whenever they call."

McDougle will make his first trip to Lincoln Financial Field as a visiting player. "I talked with a couple guys who have been through it," he said. " Darwin Walker was like, 'It's weird going into the visitors' locker room.' You spend so much time there, it's kind of weird, but that's the nature of the beast. That's the NFL."

(newsday.com)

DE Jerome McDougle said his calf and knee are both giving him a bit of trouble, which is why he was inactive yesterday.




(nj.com)

How has Jerome McDougle adjusted to this team and his role?

He made two really good plays the other day, as you saw. He squatted in there and took the shovel pass away and then he got up the field and tipped the ball. We use him on special teams as well. So I think he is naturally evolving into feeling good about the role that he plays and understanding, as soon as the defensive huddle call is made, exactly what his assignment is.

(giantsfootballblog.com)

I caught up with new Giants DE Jerome McDougle on his way out of the stadium today. He was running around to get settled, so I didn't want to hold him up too long with a ton of questions. Here's what he had to say during our brief interview.

(On joining the Giants) I'm real excited about the opportunity to play for the Super Bowl champs. It's a good deal coming up here and being a part of this top-class organization.

(On Steve Spagnuolo) It's good, man. Coming up here and playing with (Spagnuolo), we have a good relationship. He does some of the same things I've been doing in Philly with his own little spin on things, so it's good. He really gives his ends freedom and they go after it. That's what I'm looking forward to - getting on the field and making plays.

(On redemption and fulfilling his potential) I just want to play. I don't really like to do too much talking. I just want the opportunity to get out there and play. My play will speak for itself. I don't want to be a guy that does a lot of talking. I want to show I can play.

(On injuries and tough breaks he's had) I don't deal in what-ifs. And God doesn't make mistakes. I'm trusting in Him. Me, I'm just going out there to play.
***
Well, I guess I didn't have to hunt down McDougle after all because the Giants' crack PR staff did it for us. Here's a transcript they released two minutes after I posted this entry:

What are your thoughts about coming up the turnpike and being here? It is great. Defending Super Bowl champs... I look good in blue. I feel good to be here, staying in the division, so not really much of a difference as far as guys you are going against, and I just feel good to be here, to be wanted, and I am just looking forward to doing some good things on this defense. I like the defensive scheme, it is sort of the same kinds of things that I came from - a lot of movement - and we get after it.

Is it good that you have a relationship with Coach Spags? That is great, that is great. Coach Spags has done a good job here. He really gets after it and kind of put his own niche on kind of the defense that we were running there in Philly.It is good for me because there is a lot of movement, which allows for guys like me a chance to kind of move and get after the quarterback a little bit.

Are you happy with the way you played in the preseason? I did well. I wanted to continue to get better. I still have things I need to work on. Obviously it is going to be a different atmosphere for me, so I need to kind of get the terminology and get everything down. Football is football when it comes down to it so I am just looking forward to getting out here and mixing it up a little bit, just getting with my teammates. Kind of learn everybody, learn how I play, learn how everybody else plays, and start winning some games.

You are thrown into the fire getting here on Sunday with a Thursday night game? Yeah, that is how the league is, man. That is how the NFL is. There is a lot of change so you have to always be on your toes. That is a part of the game. You know you are going to have different things happen and you have to just adjust on the fly.

Were you surprised at all about your release in Philly? I knew it was a kind of 50/50 chance. I wasn't really worried about it. I knew either way it went I was going to be somewhere. Again, that is a part of the game, that is the kind of league we are in, so they moved on and I moved on and I am just going to make the best out of it.

Have you felt that as long as you could stay healthy your career would turn out well? I just have my trust in God. I am a Christian. I have a good relationship with Jesus Christ, or a great relationship with Jesus Christ, and I have just been trusting in God, trusting in His word and if I can just go out there and put it all on the line, I am positive that He will take care of me. That is what I have been holding on to.

Has it been frustrating at all for you? No. It hasn't been frustrating. As long as you can keep Jesus Christ in the equation, everything will come out good. Some guys wonder why people go crazy and start losing it, they don't have anything to believe in, they don't have anything to trust in. If you believe in God and you trust in Him, He will always deliver you.

You feel good now? I feel great. I feel great. I feel great. The defending Super Bowl champs, a top class organization. What else could you want?

(nj.com)

The newest member of the Super Bowl champion Giants is Jerome McDougle, the defensive end cut on Saturday by the Eagles. McDougle visited with the team Saturday night and after a workout with the team today signed.

To make room for him on the roster, DT Rodney Leisle was waived.

"This is something we feel we needed,'' Tom Coughlin said of the addition of McDougle. "He's certainly a guy who created great interest to us. We feel it will be a real good investment for us.''

(blogs.nypost.com)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Jerome McDougle ran out of chances with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The former first-round pick was among 12 players released Saturday to put the Eagles at the NFL's roster limit. McDougle had a solid preseason, finishing with a team-high 21/2 sacks. But that wasn't enough for the Eagles to keep the defensive end around. McDougle has just three sacks in 33 career games.

"It was an extremely difficult decision for us," general manager Tom Heckert said. "He's a great guy and he's worked real hard to come back from adversity. He won't have a hard time finding a job."

The Eagles traded up 15 spots to draft McDougle with the 15th overall pick in 2003. But the former Miami star never lived up to expectations. McDougle was plagued by injuries his first two seasons and missed all of 2005 after he was shot during a robbery in Miami before the start of training camp.

McDougle returned in 2006 and appeared in 14 games, recording one sack. But he sat out last season with a triceps injury.

"Every year he showed the determination to come back," Heckert said. "We thought long and hard about this. We're keeping so many defensive linemen that we couldn't rationalize keeping another one."

(sportingnews.com)

Jerome McDougle blocked a Kellen Clemens pass on the Jets' second play of the evening. McDougle played another strong, active game, making the decision on the final cuts today and tomorrow even tougher. McDougle has played more preseason snaps and gotten better pass-rush pressure than any other Birds d-lineman.

"McDougle has done a heck of a job, he's played good football," Reid said, noting that McDougle was one of the few Eagles to play the entire game.

McDougle said he feels he has done all he could this preseason and that he would put his faith in the coaches and God.

McDougle, who has been impressive and seems to have made this squad, picked up a half-sack in the first half with Bryan Smith. Earlier in the week, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said he was pleasantly surprised at the progress McDougle has made, given his injury-riddled career here.

McDougle finished the preseason with 2?sacks.

(philly.com)

PHILADELPHIA -- Tonight could be the last time Jerome McDougle and Tony Hunt don the Midnight Green and winged helmet.

Each figured prominently into the Eagles' plans at one point. But in the NFL, plans change.

McDougle is having his best training camp in the six years since the Eagles drafted him 15th overall in the first round.

Both should see ample playing time tonight against the Jets in the preseason finale at Lincoln Financial Field, hoping to turn this final audition into a role for the 2008 season.

"Obviously, the coaches have to make some big decisions," McDougle said.

With the season opener around the corner, head coach Andy Reid already has an idea of how his 53-man roster will shape out.

If he already knows his starting fullback, he hasn't let on. If he already knows exactly how many defensive ends he'll keep, that's also been kept under wraps.

In his final preseason press conference Tuesday, Reid suggested that jobs have been won -- and lost -- in the final preseason game.

"I'm sure there have been some who were just sitting right there on the bubble, and this last game put them over the edge," Reid said.
"There is so much time that goes into evaluating guys every day. Every day, every play, they are graded. You sit down every day and go through it and talk about each guy. So, what seems like a one-day decision is a decision that is being made constantly with their reps."

McDougle is finally excelling after five injury-plagued seasons. Entering camp, he barely registered a blip on the radar.
Injuries to other ends helped McDougle creep up the depth chart, and he's turned the extra practice time into a showcase.

He's been the dominant pass-rusher among all the ends in camp and leads the defense with two preseason sacks.

"It feels good to go through a whole training camp and whole preseason without getting banged up," he said. "[I] Finally put one together."

But his odds aren't favorable.

With Victor Abiamiri not scheduled to go on injured reserve, the Eagles have an overload at the position. Trent Cole, Juqua Parker, Abiamiri and Darren Howard have seemingly locked up four jobs.

That leaves rookie Bryan Smith, free-agent signing Chris Clemons and McDougle to duke it out for two.

It might be too risky to release Smith, a third-round pick, and hope he clears waivers before signing him to the practice squad.

They shelled out $4 million to sign Clemons and seem determined to use him, even though he's missed all three preseason games from injury and isn't expected to play tonight.

That leaves some to wonder if the decision on McDougle's future has already been made, regardless of tonight's game.

"I gave it my all," McDougle said. "I left it all out there. Whatever happens after that happens."

(delawareonline.com)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Four weeks ago, what kind of odds would you have given on Jerome McDougle making the Eagles' season-opening roster? A hundred-to-one? Two hundred-to one? Five hundred-to-one?

Four weeks ago, what kind of odds would you have given on Chris Clemons not making the season-opening roster? A thousand-to-one? Two thousand-to-one?

Four weeks ago, McDougle appeared to be a dead man walking. Out of chances. Out of time. Out of luck.

Clemons? Well, Clemons was a rich man walking after signing a 5-year free-agent deal with the Eagles in March that included a $4 million signing bonus.

But with a little more than a week-and-a-half left before the Eagles have to reduce their roster to 53 players, McDougle just might be the one who stays, and Clemons, despite that hefty signing bonus, might be the one who goes.

McDougle, who has missed two of the last three seasons with injuries and has played in just 33 games since the team selected him with the 15th overall selection in the 2003 draft, continued his impressive summer last night with a sack, three hurries and a tackle for a loss in the Eagles' 27-17 win over New England.

Clemons, meanwhile, spent the game the same way he has spent much of the preseason and training camp. As an injured spectator.

"I'm just continuing to work hard," McDougle said after the game. "When the opportunity presents itself, I'm just trying to take the bull by the horns.''

The Eagles signed Clemons, who had eight sacks last season in a part-time role with Oakland, to beef up an anemic pass rush that had just 37 sacks last season and has registered more than 40 once in the last 5 years.

But as the saying goes, you can't make the club in the tub. Clemons was sidelined early in training camp when he was hospitalized for dehydration. Then he suffered a calf injury during the Eagles' last week at Lehigh and has missed the last two preseason games.

"He's been injured," defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said this week. "He's not on the field. It's hard. I mean, it's tough for him right now. He's not on the field. Until we get him back on the field, we're not going to know."

Johnson also indicated that Clemons has been slow to learn his defense.

"He was still in a learning process," he said. "He wasn't quite there yet. That's just being honest. He's working at it, but he's not quite there yet."

Injuries have been the story of McDougle's NFL career. He missed all of last season after tearing a triceps tendon. Sat out the 2005 season after getting shot in the abdomen. Has also missed time with knee, ankle and hip injuries.

But finally, finally, he has managed to make it through a summer in one piece and is starting to resemble the player the Eagles hoped he would be when they drafted him 5 years ago.

"Just with the naked eye, it looked like he played well," coach Andy Reid said. "He rushed the passer well."

The Eagles notched four sacks of Patriots quarterbacks - not including Tom Brady, who sat out his third straight preseason game.

Juqua Parker started at left end and took most of the first-half reps there, with Darren Howard giving him an occasional breather. McDougle opened the second half at left end. On the Patriots' first possession, he beat right tackle Nick Kaczur with an outside rush and sacked Matt Cassel for a 7-yard loss.

"The other guys had been doing some stuff against [Kaczur], and I just fed off what they had been doing," McDougle said.

It's uncertain how many defensive ends the Eagles will keep on their roster. It remains to be seen what they will do with injured Victor Abiamiri and third-round rookie Bryan Smith.

Asked whether he thinks he survive the cutdowns, McDougle said, "The only thing I can control is what I can control and go out and play my butt off."

(philly.com)

PHILADELPHIA — Darren Howard and Jerome McDougle will see more action at left defensive end as the Eagles continue to try to find a consistent pass-rushing threat opposite Pro Bowl right end Trent Cole.

Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said today that Howard, the top reserve behind Cole, will get more snaps at left defensive end. The team's next preseason game is Friday at New England.

McDougle, a sixth-year veteran who missed all of last season with a torn triceps, also has a "50-50" chance to get some spans with the first defense, Johnson said.

"I think one of the things we're going to do is we're going to let Howard play a little bit of left and right," Johnson said. "We've got to get him on the field as much as possible. That's one thing we're doing."

Juqua Parker is still the team's starting left defensive end, but Parker is viewed as a run-stopping weapon who will also play special teams and play a situational role in certain pass-rushing schemes.

Johnson had hoped newcomer Chris Clemons would provide the consistent pass rush in blitzing situations from the left side but Clemons missed time during camp from dehydration and is currently out with a calf strain. He's still adjusting to an entirely new defense and didn't play against Carolina. His status remains uncertain for the New England game.

Howard and McDougle have mainly played right end but have each impressed the coaches during training camp enough to merit looks at the other side.

Howard, who signed a six-year megadeal in 2006, is coming off two disappointing seasons in which he went from starter to situational reserve at a different position.

Last year, he was mainly used as a tackle in short-yardage and goal-line situations.
Injuries have kept McDougle off the field for much of his six-year career. The former 15th overall pick in 2003 has missed two seasons from injuries, including a 2005 season in which he shot during an armed robbery right before training camp and missed the season to recover from surgery.

(delawareonline.com)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - You would pretty much need a calculator and a half page from the NFL player register to list all the injuries that have plagued defensive end Jerome McDougle in his five seasons as an Eagle.

He didn't play a single snap last season because of a torn triceps. Two years earlier, he missed the entire season after being shot in a robbery attempt on the eve of training camp. In all, McDougle has played just 33 of 80 possible games with the Birds since he was drafted in the first round in 2003.

This training camp figures to be his final go-round. So far, the Eagles are encouraged, especially after McDougle played nearly three quarters against the host Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday, his longest action in years.

"It's been a while," he said. "I can't remember the last time I played that much. It felt good to get out there, and banging heads with people and playing with the guys."

Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson pointed to McDougle as having been one of a couple of players who stood out with good pressure on the quarterback. McDougle had two tackles.

The 6-foot-2, 264-pound Miami product figures to get another long look Thursday night against the Panthers at the Linc.

"I've said it before: I think this is a big year for Mac," Johnson said. "I think he's taken advantage of it right now."

"We'll just see how he continues to progress," Johnson said. "At the least, I saw a guy who was getting upfield and getting after the passer."

McDougle has a chance to make the team, especially if another defensive end, Victor Abiamiri, who has a broken wrist, goes on injured reserve. At the same time, Darren Howard can play both tackle and end, which seemingly gives him an edge.

"He's kind of climbed the ladder, and then he had a setback," coach Andy Reid said of McDougle. "That happens. He's come out and he's played well. He's put all that behind him, he feels good, and he seems to be playing productive football.

"We'll just see how he finishes this thing out."

(philly.com)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - This is not a position of familiarity for Jerome McDougle.

He is the one the Eagles coaches are excitedly singling out. He is the one feeling sorry for others. He is the one trying to take advantage of some luck.

He is healthy.

"It's kind of weird," McDougle said. "But I feel for those guys because I know how hard it is to go through those things, to bust your butt in the off-season and then to get injured in training camp. I know how it is."

Does he ever. Entering his sixth season with the Eagles, McDougle has missed more games than he's played at defensive end. He suffered from knee and ankle injuries, an irregular heartbeat, fractured ribs and a triceps tear. In 2005, he was shot in the stomach.

Just over a week into camp, though, and McDougle is making quite an impression at a deep position that has suffered from sudden health issues - none to speak of for No. 95.

"He's stepped up," head coach Andy Reid said last week. "He looks strong and fast and quick. I think he's playing very good right now. We want him to maintain that. And, he's going against the [first-team offense]. It's a good gauge of what he's all about right now and it looks like he's doing OK."

With defensive end Victor Abiamiri in doubt following wrist surgery and Chris Clemons going in and out of drills after returning from dehydration, McDougle couldn't have dreamed for a better chance.

But people were saying the same things about the former first-round pick last year - what great shape he was in and what quickness he showed - before McDougle tore the triceps tendon in the first preseason game against Baltimore and missed the entire 2007 season.

That injury, oddly enough, earned McDougle a reprieve. He would have been a long shot to make the team, but the Eagles stashed him on injured reserve, giving him the chance this season to make the team one more time.

"It's just a lot of hard work finally paying off for me," McDougle said.

Since Abiamiri went down, McDougle has played primarily with the second-team defense, meaning he goes against the first-team offense in drills. Enjoying early success against them in camp has boosted his confidence.

"He's back healthy and that's just exciting to see that because he's been through so much," said defensive end Juqua Parker (formerly Thomas). "He's doing pretty well out there."

And that's enough to make McDougle forget the times when he was moving down the depth chart instead of up.

"It's been a blessing," he said. "A lot of guys don't make it to year six."

(philly.com)

Each time Eagles coach Andy Reid barked for the second-team defense during Wednesday's training camp, some guy wearing the number 95 on his uniform trotted onto the field.

95 ... 95 ... who the heck is No. 95?

Turns out, somebody has had that number for the last five years now. It just hasn't been seen much because No. 95 usually gets hurt and spends the rest of the season on the injured list.

It only seemed a matter of time, maybe a few more days in camp, before No. 95 would be released and out looking for a 9-to-5, as in a full-time job in another line of work.

Back in June, during one of the Eagles' minicamps, defensive coordinator Jimmie Johnson rattled off six defensive ends that he figured to be part of his rotation at that position. No. 95's name never came up.

So it figured he would soon be on 95, as in I-95, heading south, back to Miami where he went to school.

It was there, at the University of Miami, where the Eagles found him then made him their No. 1 draft pick in the 2003 draft.

Ring a bell?

That's right, No. 95 was Jerome McDougle. Still is Jerome McDougle.

He's still here, sweating away on the practice fields of Lehigh University and cashing paychecks, still with one more year left on a six-year, $9.5 million deal inked in '03.

Now get this, McDougle is running with the second team.

The fact that he is with the second team is due to a couple of dominoes that have fallen in his favor since he began this year's camp more bystander than 3-point-stancer. Those dominoes were Victor Abiamiri, Chris Clemons and Bryan Smith, three defensive ends who have been shelved with injury — and, in Clemons' case, dehydration.

“When guys go down, I know how it feels to work your butt off all through the off-season and come out and get hurt,” McDougle said. “I feel for them, and my prayers are with them.”

Everybody should remember McDougle's story by now.

It's a short story where nothing much happens, and even that always ends prematurely due to injury.

The most spectacular incident came in 2005 when he was shot in the stomach while being robbed in Miami. He had been anointed the starter after Derrick Burgess departed for the Raiders in free agency, but never played a down. Not that football mattered much as he fought for his life.

The one year he was fully healthy, 2006, he never did much, appearing in 14 games, none of them starts, and recording 17 tackles and one sack.
Given his do-little resume, it can't be a good thing for the Eagles' Super Bowl aspirations that McDougle is one of the team's top four defensive ends in camp at this point.

Or can it?

“Jerome is a very capable defensive end,” said defensive lineman Darren Howard, who turned in a strong practice Wednesday. “He's been in the league for a long time for a reason, and that's because he can play the position.

“We have some guys going down, and he's getting some extra reps right now. The only thing holding McDougle back is he's had some bad luck and a lot of injuries. That doesn't take away from the kind of player he is. He's out here working really hard, and he's pushing really hard to make the squad. My hat's off to a guy like that who can put a lot of things behind him and just keep working.”

Really, if the expectations that go along with being a No. 1 draft pick weren't there, McDougle would be an easy player to root for.

He works with kids in juvenile detention centers, is on the board of Broward County's Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, holds football clinics in conjunction with the Miami Police Athletic League, and, in 2006, he received the Ed Block Courage Award.

“Football is a bonus for me,” said McDougle. “I'm happy to be alive. Each day I can come out here is a blessing. I want to come out here and get better. For me, it's just staying healthy. My goal is to just try to stay healthy. My biggest goal is to stay out here, because it's out of sight, out of mind.”

McDougle will turn 30 when the Cleveland Browns visit Lincoln Financial Field for a Monday Night game Dec. 15.

If he is still here and healthy, it could be a birthday worth celebrating.

If not, then he'll likely just be some guy. And he won't be wearing No. 95 anymore.

(phillyburbs.com)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. At this point of training camp, any prediction about how the Eagles' season will go down would be a bit premature.

If there is one certainty, it would be the agonizing decisions coach Andy Reid and his staff will have to make to trim the roster to the league-mandated 53 by the start of the regular season.

Most starting spots and many of the backup assignments already are known. However, the competition for the non-starting linebacking and defensive end positions figures to be particularly healthy, based on what the players jostling for those spots have shown through the first two full contact days of camp.

We start with the man the public forgot 2003 first-round draft pick Jerome McDougle, who's as fit and agile as ever and who certainly hasn't been forgotten by the coaching staff or his teammates.

McDougle was very active in Sunday's live sessions, looking especially sharp when sacking A.J. Feeley on one play and getting off a block to make a good tackle in the run game on the next snap during the second live scrimmage.

"All the ends that I go up against right now can be starters," left tackle Tra Thomas said. "McDougle can definitely be a starter, easy. Darren Howard is a starter. So I'm not going out there and seeing backup ends. I mean, we are stacked (at defensive end). We are really stacked."

Howard, who so far has failed to live up to the reputation he developed in New Orleans after being signed as a free agent in 2006, drew praise from defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.

"I think this is going to be a good year for him," Johnson said. "I anticipate a good year. I see a player who is in much better shape. His weight is down and he looks quick to me. I think he had a great offseason, as far as working on it and being around the complex, also.

"He was a good role player for us last year. We expect more out of him this year. He made some big plays toward the end right there. We hope he continues. He just looks like a different player to me right now."

Considering there only will be room for five ends, at the most, with Trent Cole, Juqua Parker and Victor Abiamiri being considered locks, it means McDougle, Howard, Bryan Smith and Chris Clemons are essentially battling for two spots.

This will come down to the wire.

(nj.com)

The Philadelphia Eagles' official website reports Eagles DE Jerome McDougle is battling back from a tricep injury.

A source close to the situation has said the Eagles also are talking to Rosenhaus about restructuring the contract of one of his other clients, star-crossed 2003 first-round draft pick Jerome McDougle. Apparently, the team wants McDougle - a longshot to make the team this year - to take a pay cut, just to continue his bid to make the roster. McDougle is scheduled to make $950,000 in the final year of his rookie pact.

(ffmastermind.com)

The handwriting is on the wall for two former first-day Eagles draft picks. DE Jerome McDougle, a first-round pick in 2003, and RB Ryan Moats, a third-rounder in 2005, appear to be on the outside looking in as training camp approaches. McDougle, whose promising career has been derailed by injuries, now sits seventh on the DE depth chart following the offseason additions of free agent Chris Clemons and rookie Bryan Smith, who will be tried at end despite needing to bulk up (he’s reportedly up to 245 pounds and could weigh more when camp arrives). McDougle is entering the final year of his rookie contract and most likely won’t make it out of camp.

(pfw.com)

Reid and his staff could even decide that some veterans would be better off seeking employment elsewhere. If that's the case, defensive end Jerome McDougle and running back Ryan Moats could be packing their bags soon.

McDougle, the Eagles' first-round draft pick in 2003, is entering the final season of the six-year, $9.5-million contract he signed as a rookie. Most of his first five seasons were a waste, due to a myriad of injuries and a gunshot wound suffered just before he was due to report to training camp in 2005.

The 29-year-old has played in just 33 career games and has three sacks. He missed all of last season with a torn triceps. The addition of veteran free agent Chris Clemons and third-round draft pick Bryan Smith left McDougle as the seventh defensive end behind starters Trent Cole and Juqua Thomas, plus Victor Abiamiri, Clemons, Darren Howard and Smith.

"I don't want to just make the team; I want to make a difference," McDougle said. "I was a first-round pick for a reason. When I'm healthy, I can play with the best of them. The coaches must know that or they would have gotten rid of me a long time ago.

"I feel good right now, and hopefully I can stay that way. If I can, it will be up to me to seize the bull by the horns and take advantage of the opportunity when it comes my way."

(pressofatlanticcity.com)

EAGLES DEFENSIVE coordinator Jim Johnson was telling reporters last week how excited he was about his defensive-end rotation. Johnson named six players who figure into the mix, as the Birds conclude their final workouts today and adjourn until training camp at Lehigh begins in July.

Jerome McDougle, the 15th selection in the 2003 draft, was not among the six D-ends Johnson named, which is kind of the way McDougle's career has gone, from the complicated hip, knee and ankle injury that ruined his rookie season so many years ago, to the 2005 gunshot wound that might have forever altered his football prospects, to the triceps tear that cost McDougle the 2007 season and probably wrote him out of the Eagles' plans for good.

And yet, McDougle endures. Yes, he is still here, entering the final season of his 6-year, $9.5 million rookie contract. His hair has flecks of gray now; he will be 30 in December. Only eight of his current teammates predate his arrival (not including A.J. Feeley, who left and came back). McDougle rehabbed after the triceps surgery, watching and waiting through yet another year; the Birds have played 80 regular-season games since trading up to draft the quick pass rusher from Miami. He has appeared in 33 of them. He has three career sacks.

"Maybe they're a little bit down on me, but I feel like I'm right there," McDougle said yesterday. "Just like last year, I had a pretty good training camp, but I've just got to stay healthy. That's been the consummate theme of this movie, not staying healthy . . . I'm a warrior. They know that I have it in me."

The fact is, the Eagles don't know that McDougle has it in him anymore. They once thought they knew that - Andy Reid recalled yesterday that McDougle looked great in minicamps and was scheduled to open training camp in 2005 as a starter, following the departure of Derrick Burgess through free agency. McDougle was shot in a robbery attempt in Miami July 28, the night before he was to fly to Philadelphia. McDougle fought back from a terrible stomach wound and was ready to start practicing again that October, only to undergo emergency surgery for an internal hernia caused by scar tissue, the night before he was scheduled to take the field.

The footlong scar down the middle of McDougle's belly, bisecting his navel, no longer looks fresh, but it cuts a deep furrow, below the tattoo McDougle chose to accent it, which reads "TRUE STORY."

The overall sense is that McDougle has never been quite the same player since his 2005 ordeal.

"That was a long rehab process," Johnson said yesterday. "You lose a whole year, with the weights, and the conditioning."

Johnson and Reid said they had never seen a player have to fight through more than McDougle has encountered.

"There's nobody that's been under the microscope more than him, or had the problems that he's had," Reid said. "It's hard. You come in as a first-round pick, see your starting job right there, and then, boom, it gets knocked down. And then you climb the ladder again, get yourself back to where you're competing for that starting job - boom, again. That can kind of wear you out.

"He came off just an unbelievable offseason through these minicamps [in 2005]. He was everything we thought he would be. Then he goes through that thing. Then they have to go in and [operate] again. Then he gets hurt after that."

McDougle was healthy for the 2006 season, the only time he has played a whole, uninterrupted year. He appeared in 14 games, started none, managed one sack. In limited playing time, he looked solid against the run, and pretty much did nothing against the pass. He has not figured seriously in the Eagles' plans since then. It would take a miraculous training camp for McDougle to earn real playing time this season, or even for him to make the roster.

"I have complete faith in God, first of all, and complete faith in myself," McDougle said. "It's all about opportunities. They've continued to give me an opportunity in spite of all the situations I've been through. I have gone through a lot of things, things where people have said I would probably never play football again. I've proven them wrong."

Watching McDougle, it's hard not to wonder when the next misfortune will befall him. This is a man who, in 2004, missed a game with an irregular heartbeat, was cleared to come back and sprained a knee 3 weeks later, causing him to miss four more games.

"If you start believing in that and thinking about that, it starts to manifest itself," McDougle said. "If something happens, then it just happens. I can't worry about it."

"That's a lot to go through, a lot of stress," teammate Trent Cole said. "He's a good-hearted person, very much a gentleman." As a fifth-round rookie defensive end in 2005, Cole got his chance partly because McDougle wasn't around. He established himself and now is a starter and returning Pro Bowler.

Surely, McDougle must think about the dreams he brought with him from Miami - winning the rookie of the year award was among them on an extensive list he once taped to the wall of his locker stall.

"I don't ever have no thoughts about the past, because I can't do nothing about it," McDougle said. "The past is the past. I'm still here, I'm healthy, and I'm just getting ready for the season."

Cole, his view perhaps colored by his affection for McDougle, believes his friend can still help the Eagles, after all these years.

"McDougle's a great player," Cole said. "McDougle could go start for any other NFL team."

The people making the roster decisions haven't said that, as much as they honor McDougle's grit.

"At least he's battling," Johnson said. "This is a big camp for him. A lot of good players out there, and he knows that. He looks healthy. He's moving well. We'll see with the pads on, but he seems fine. He's got a good attitude. We'll know more at camp."

(philly.com)