Lito Sheppard a No-Show at Eagles' Workout

And the frustration continues!

In an earlier article I noted the day’s news of Terrell Owens signing an extension with the Cowboys and Chad Johnson returning to the Bengals. Bad news comes in threes...Lito Sheppard was a no-show at today’s voluntary offseason workouts.

Yes, the workouts are voluntary and participation is not required. Funny thing, all of the other players managed to show for today’s workouts. Well, Scott Young also did not attend (if you don’t remember, Young was the lineman with the false start penalty negating Garcia’s completion on fourth down in the playoff game against the Saints).

It appears that Lito was not enticed by the belittling offer of playing time at wide receiver. So much for a camp without distractions. How will the Eagles proceed?

The Eagles will continue to label Lito’s absence as a non-issue. Following the completion of the workouts, Andy Reid will then again berate the media for always focusing on the negatives.

Will Lito’s absence carry into training camp? Will there be another TO-like atmosphere following the Eagles as they prepare for the 2008 season? Will players again be forced to answer questions about an absent player? Will the Eagles' locker room again become divided? 

How will Lito’s situation affect the newly acquired Asante Samuel? Will key veterans who support Lito, or players who have also been wronged by management, have hard feelings towards Asante? Will Lito’s holdout provide motivation for Westbrook to follow suit?

There are so many unanswered questions from today’s absence. 

Sadly, despite today’s no-show, the Eagles will continue with their hard-nosed management style. The recent contract extension of Tom Heckert, as well as the promotion of Howie Roseman (a Banner protégé), shows that management can do no wrong. Fans should not be surprised when similar contract issues continue to resurface year after year.