This is life in the NFL. You leave work on Friday with 74 teammates and show up on Sunday with only 52.
And these are tense times, especially for a player like Moise Fokou, who was displaced as the starting strongside linebacker early in training camp by Akeem Jordan.
"It's very surreal," Fokou said. "It lets you know how much of an uncertain business this is, a lot of uncertainties. But at the same time, that's the business. We came here, all 75, 80 of us in camp looking for a job. Then it's the final cuts and this is the 2010 roster. Now we have out 53 guys to go into the season with."
It's been an interesting preseason for Fokou, who has been moved around the defense from defensive end to the joker position, in addition to his duties as the backup strongside linebacker. It took Fokou some time to get acclimated into his new roles, but by the end of the summer, he was flying to the ball and he closed out the preseason with a team-high 10 tackles. Fokou knows the team brass is high on him, but he still had his nervous moments when the roster was whittled down.
"I was down in Maryland, hanging out at home, and I got a call from (general manager) Howie (Roseman) and he said 'See you Sunday,'" Fokou said. "I said, 'Thanks for the call.' So it's always good when you get a reassuring call.
"At first I was like, '2-1-5? Who's calling me from 215? That's a Philly number. Well, let's find out.' So I picked it up and it was good news."
When the Eagles acquired Antwan Barnes from the Baltimore Ravens early Saturday morning, some speculated that Fokou might be expendable. Not the case obviously, as Roseman said on Saturday that Fokou is very much in the team's plans for the future. Still, Fokou knows that you can never be too comfortable in the cutthroat world of professional football.
"It's the NFL, you're never content," Fokou said. "Any of us could be gone week two or something due to injury or due to just coaching or staff and administrative things ... Every day you have to earn your spot on this roster, so that's what I'm here to do and we're here to win games."
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 8:01 a.m., September 6
