Brent Celek

TAMPA, Fla. - Brent Celek sustained a concussion on the first play from scrimmage in Sunday's 23-21 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Celek was helped off the field after a 1-yard catch and taken to the locker room for examination. He is the third key starter on the Eagles offense to suffer a concussion this season. Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy continue to sit with lingering concussions. There was no word after the game on the severity of Celek's concussion. "For him to go out, I'll tell you it was a pretty good [hit]

Here are some observations and ruminations about the Eagles-Steelers game:   PITTSBURGH - Tight end Brent Celek caught a clutch, 2-yard touchdown pass to put the Eagles ahead in the fourth quarter. Earlier in the game, however, with their offensive line battered and facing a blitz-happy Steelers defense, the Eagles had to keep Celek in to block. Celek provided a lot of help for left tackle Demetress Bell against linebacker James Harrison. But with Celek staying in, Michael Vick didn't have his second-leading receiver as an option.

Here are some observations and ruminations about the Eagles-Saints game: NEW ORLEANS - Michael Vick's ninth interception of the season - and his second pick-six - was both his fault and that of Brent Celek. The veteran tight end ran an "out" route just shy of the goal line, and he had a slight step on the Saints defender Monday night. But Vick led Celek too much. Celek, who may have been held, half-heartedly stuck a hand out and deflected the ball into the hands of New Orleans cornerback Patrick Robinson.

All season, the Eagles have been waiting for a major contribution from their tight end. If you had Brent Celek coming up with one of the top performances all season at that position, you win the pool. With L.J. Smith inactive for yesterday's game with the Cowboys, and Smith's replacement, Matt Schobel, taken out on the first series on a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit by Dallas safety Ken Hamlin, Celek was the last available tight end on the Eagles' roster. That meant a lot more offensive snaps, and it meant the rookie from Cincinnati - normally a blocker - would become one of Donovan McNabb's top targets.

EVERY SUMMER, Brent Celek and his brother Garrett, now a rookie tight end with the 49ers, get together and talk football. Now in his sixth NFL season, Brent plays the role of mentor. If he is as good a teacher as Garrett says he is, he will probably spare his brother any lessons born of this season of Eagles football. Like many of his Eagles teammates, this year has been one to forget for Celek. Whether dropping passes or absorbing bone-crunching hits, the veteran tight end has not been his reliable self in months.

It's not going to make for a good argument if the Eagles and DeSean Jackson ever hold contract extension talks, but the wide receiver could point to Brent Celek's resurgence this season for proof of his worth. Jackson's loss has been Celek's gain. The tight end had a career day as the Eagles held on to dear playoff life and trounced the New York Jets, 45-19, on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Jackson not so much. The pregame storyline on Jackson was that he needed to put on a show against the Jets' all-world cornerback Darrelle Revis with his future in Philadelphia in great doubt.

Brent Celek enjoyed a career day Sunday as the Eagles routed the Seattle Seahawks, 26-7. But even though Celek caught six passes for 131 yards in place of the injured L.J. Smith, Eagles coach Andy Reid insisted yesterday that there is no tight end controversy. When he is healthy, Smith still will be the starter, Reid said. Smith missed Sunday's game with a concussion he suffered Oct. 26 in a 27-14 win against the visiting Atlanta Falcons. "L.J. is a starter when he comes back, and hopefully it works out for him with his [concussion]

DeSean Jackson, the Eagles' best wide receiver and the NFL's leading punt returner, left Sunday's game with a concussion that has made his status questionable at best for the team's Week 13 game against the Atlanta Falcons. Brent Celek, the starting tight end, has a sprained thumb that seemed to be a real problem for him during the Eagles' 27-24 win over the Washington Redskins. Brodrick Bunkley, one of the team's starting defensive tackles, is hobbled by a sprained ankle.

"I KNOW MOST of the police officers in town," said comedian Wanda Sykes , loving the simple life of Media. "Not because I've been arrested," she clarified, "but because it's a small town. " Sykes, who is performing at the Borgata on Friday and Saturday ("I'm always excited for Atlantic City," Sykes said. "The audience comes to have a good time. They're there, they're happy there and they're little bit drunk. "), splits her time between L.A. and Delaware County. Sharing Sykes' bicoastal lifestyle is her wife and their two children, who often come up in her act. Sykes said she likes her dual life of living in a sprawling urban center like L.A. and the quieter environs of Media.

Part Three of a Series The Eagles are amid their first organized team activities this week, and they will practice throughout the next four weeks. After those practices, coach Chip Kelly will have a better idea of the Eagles roster. But there's a lot that will happen between now and then. Here is a look at the tight ends: Projected current first team TE1: Brent Celek (6-foot-4, 255 pounds), age 28, 7th season TE2: James Casey (6-3, 240), 28, 5th Of all the positions on the Eagles offense, the one that has seen the most change this offseason is tight end. Kelly brought in three new quarterbacks, but the current top two remain the same.

Part Three of a Series The Eagles are amid their first organized team activities this week, and they will practice throughout the next four weeks. After those practices, coach Chip Kelly will have a better idea of the Eagles roster. But there's a lot that will happen between now and then. Here is a look at the tight ends: Projected current first team TE1: Brent Celek (6-foot-4, 255 pounds), age 28, 7th season TE2: James Casey (6-3, 240), 28, 5th Of all the positions on the Eagles offense, the one that has seen the most change this offseason is tight end. Kelly brought in three new quarterbacks, but the current top two remain the same.

"I KNOW MOST of the police officers in town," said comedian Wanda Sykes , loving the simple life of Media. "Not because I've been arrested," she clarified, "but because it's a small town. " Sykes, who is performing at the Borgata on Friday and Saturday ("I'm always excited for Atlantic City," Sykes said. "The audience comes to have a good time. They're there, they're happy there and they're little bit drunk. "), splits her time between L.A. and Delaware County. Sharing Sykes' bicoastal lifestyle is her wife and their two children, who often come up in her act. Sykes said she likes her dual life of living in a sprawling urban center like L.A. and the quieter environs of Media.

THE MATT BARKLEY stunner aside, there were two major Eagles surprises when the draft process concluded. The rebuilding Birds, who had just one selection in the second, third, fourth and fifth rounds, were never able to trade down and acquire more. Eagles coach Chip Kelly brought that up without being asked in one of his weekend media sessions, volunteering that nobody called when the Eagles were on the clock at fourth overall or 35th. That led to the second surprise: As happy as they might have been with getting offensive tackle Lane Johnson in the first round or tight end Zach Ertz in the second, adding a second-, third- or a fourth-rounder might have allowed the Eagles to address their secondary problems a little earlier than the fifth round (safety Earl Wolff)

The first three picks the Eagles made in the NFL draft, including their second- and third-round selections, have Chip Kelly's imprints all over them. The two players the Eagles took on Friday night - Stanford tight end Zach Ertz and LSU defensive tackle Bennie Logan - played on two of the three teams that beat Oregon in Kelly's last two years there. And while Kelly never faced Oklahoma during his four seasons as Ducks head coach, tackle Lane Johnson, the Birds' top pick, played in an up-tempo offense that ran almost as many plays last season as Oregon's.

Two days into Chip Kelly's first minicamp, his attempts to downplay the new brand of football he's bringing to the NFL were thwarted by the Eagles' amazement with his approach. "From a communication standpoint, it's going to change the league," tight end Brent Celek said. Quarterback Michael Vick - who is confident that "it's still my team," and that the starting quarterback position is "still my job" - said Kelly's offense is "something like I've never seen before. " It's a new world at the NovaCare Complex.

The Eagles traded a sixth-round pick to Tampa for a seventh-rounder and disappointing wideout Arrelious Benn on Friday. The Bucs also got a conditional 2014 pick. Benn, 6-2, 220, was a second-round selection in 2010 out of Illinois, but has caught only 59 passes in three seasons, including four last season, when he was hampered by knee and shoulder injuries. He showed promise as a kickoff returner in 2011. Just before the trade announcement, the Birds made some of their free-agent signees available.

INDIANAPOLIS - Like his brother, Travis Kelce is working back from an injury. Kelce, the Cincinnati tight end who is one of the better prospects at that position in the upcoming draft, underwent offseason sports hernia surgery and isn't working out at the NFL Scouting Combine. Jason Kelce, the Eagles' center, tore his ACL in the second game of the 2012 season. Both are expected to be fine for the 2013 season. "I tore it probably around Week 3. During the season, just played on it, played through it, got through the season," said Travis, the beardless Kelce.

NEW ORLEANS - Nick Foles and Garrett Celek are good friends. How good? When the two were roommates at Michigan State, they decided to get Chinese symbols tattooed on the inside of their left arms, just under their armpits. Tattoos often come with stories of regret, however. "I love the guy, but I kind of regret getting them," Celek said. "I need to probably get it removed one day. " Celek is a rookie tight end for San Francisco. The younger brother of Eagles tight end Brent Celek had just gotten done showing his Chinese symbols to someone during Super Bowl media day on Tuesday.

NEW ORLEANS - Brent Celek has played in 95 games in six seasons for the Eagles, an even 100 if you count the playoffs. Hasn't ever had a chance to do what his younger brother Garrett might do this week - win the Super Bowl. Garrett Celek is an undrafted 49ers rookie tight end from Michigan State who has played in 13 NFL games, plus two more in the playoffs. "He's doing all right. He's a little jealous," Garrett Celek reported on Media Day, when asked about Brent. "I know he really wants to be here in my shoes, but he's just real happy for me . . . He's going to watch from home.

Here is Paul Domowitch's report card from the Eagles' season-ending loss to the Giants. Click here to enter your grades. We will publish the results in the Daily News . RUSHING OFFENSE: Take out Michael Vick's 25 yards on five tuck-and-runs and the Eagles averaged just 3.9 yards per carry against a defense that had given up 702 rushing yards in the previous four games. LeSean McCoy again did more damage as a receiver than a ball carrier. Grade: C PASSING OFFENSE: A rusty Michael Vick completed just 19 of 35 passes and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt.