Eagles pick up Witherspoon

Eagles pick up Witherspoon

Witherspoon: The St Louis Rams traded their linebacker Will Witherspoon to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick and rookie wide receiver Brandon Gibson.

The Eagles are light at linebacker with scheduled starter Stewart Bradley out with a torn knee ligament, and his replacements have so far failed to sparkle.

Eight-year NFL veteran Witherspoon is the man head coach Andy Reid has brought in to shore-up his defence, and he will play in the middle for the Eagles.

"He's a three-down linebacker, and he can play both the mike position and the will linebacker position," Reid said of Witherspoon.

"He's very good at both of them. He's a good cover linebacker. He has the flexibility to cover tight ends and running backs and that type of thing, which is a plus."
Witherspoon, who has 33 tackles this season, now moves up a notch in the NFL - going from the 0-6 Rams to an Eagles team being touted as possible Super Bowl contenders despite their surprise loss in Oakland on Sunday.

"It means a lot to go to a team that has the opportunity to be a contender," he said. "That's what you have to look at. You have to sit there and say, 'OK, take the positives out of everything.'

"I know I'm leaving kind of a comfort zone here, being that I've been here for almost the last four years, but I'm moving into another situation."

Along with the draft pick, the Rams acquired rookie wideout Gibson, who the Eagles took out of the sixth round of the draft, in the deal.

Gibson had impressed the Eagles but with a wealth of talent on their roster he has not seen any action this season - but that should change in St Louis.

The Rams have been hurting at receiver all season and arguably their first choice Donny Avery picked up a hip injury during Sunday's