SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: …The Eagles are hosting Detroit in Week 6 of the 2012 season. Andy Reid had coaxed Mudd, the grizzled offensive line coach, out of retirement two years earlier, charging him with molding Philly’s up-and-coming front five. That included Watkins, the Eagles’ 2011 first-round pick.
Watkins, 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, overflowed with God-given talent: agile feet and mind, natural balance, the toughness to thrive in the trenches. No one man can singlehandedly shut down Suh, but Watkins, Mudd thought, had the smarts and raw strength to hold one of the NFL’s elite defenders in check.
Yet that afternoon, Suh and teammate Nick Fairley set up residence in the Eagles’ backfield. Watkins offered little resistance as the Lions harassed Michael Vick throughout the afternoon. The Eagles blew a 10-point lead and the game went to overtime. After back-to-back sacks of Vick set up a third-and-31 at Philadelphia’s four-yard line, the Lions rushed only three. Watkins stood awkwardly at the line of scrimmage, no teammates or opponents around him. He looked confused, out of place as his quarterback scrambled and threw a ball away out of bounds, setting off a cascade of boos from the home crowd. That was the last meaningful snap of Watkins’ NFL career. Detroit’s field goal on the subsequent possession finished the second of a calamitous eight-game losing streak that cost Reid, Mudd and Watkins their jobs… (more)
