CINCINNATI- Jeremy Maclin, and, for that matter, Eagles fans, can exhale.
Maclin left Friday night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals when he got hit successive times on the left shoulder after catching a Kevin Kolb pass and running across the field with a shoulder contusion, but X-rays were negative and Maclin will be fine.
"It could have been a lot worse and I'm glad everything was negative," Maclin said after the game, echoing the sentiments of head coach Andy Reid.
In the second quarter, Maclin was hit on the left shoulder as he caught the ball over the middle of the field. He absorbed the first blow but was hit again by another defender as he approached the sideline, causing the second-year wide receiver to fumble the ball out of bounds and call for the trainer.
"It wasn't really the hit that hurt," Maclin said, "it was the fact that it hit me right under the shoulder and got underneath the shoulder pads."
Maclin was no doubt disappointed in having to leave the game and in his team's 22-9 loss after the game, but right now, the most important thing is that he'll live to catch another day. So take that deep breath.
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 12:42 a.m., August 21
