Eagles News: Andrews still at home, Asante's back, Kimo cut

A pretty busy day of news today out at Lehigh. First of all, Shawn Andrews has been cleared to return to the Eagles, yet he did not show up this morning for practice. Andy Reid didn't seem too concerned, and he thought that Andrews would arrive sometime later today.

Asante Samuel made his return to the practice field today for the first time since late July when he injured his hamstring. Samuel's return forces Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown to rotate at the other cornerback spot again, something that I am sure makes Lito very happy. No word yet on whether Samuel will suit up for Thursday's game against the Panthers.

The last bit of news to come from the Eagles is that they released veteran defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen. von Oelhoffen spent last season with the Birds, racking up a whopping two tackles in limited action. The 15 year veteran's career is likely over and he will probably always be best known for injuring Carson Palmer with a low shot to the knee in the 2005 playoffs. The Eagles signed rookie free agent Mike Marquardt to replace von Oelhoffen. Marquardt, a defensive tackle, went to Arizone State and was recently cut by the Cincinnati Bengals. He's a long shot to make the team.

Eagles make a number of roster moves

Following OTA's, the Eagles roster is finally starting to take shape. The Eagles cut nine players and signed one, trimming their roster from 88 players to 80. The one player signed was defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen, who has played 15 years in the NFL, including last season with the Birds. von Oelhoffen is really old, but he will be a serviceable part and a veteran presence who will help. Hopefully he doesn't play too much because if the team is forced to use him a lot they likely are in a dire situation.

Here are the nine players cut:
LB Gary Butler
DT Jeremy Clark
CB Tanard Davis
WR Terrell Golden
QB Casey Hansen
DE Xzavie Jackson
DT LaJuan Ramsey
DE A.J. Schable
LB Markell Staffieri

Clark, Davis, Jackson and Ramsey all were either on the roster or the practice squad last season while the rest of the cuts were rookie free agents. Ramsey is the most surprising of the group, but with the re-signing of von Oelhoffen and the drafting of Trevor Laws there is no room for him.