Clay Harbor

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Mike Thomas met Andy Reid for the first time before Monday's practice, when the Eagles coach told the former Army sergeant that he looked like a movie star and could be on the field. Thomas, wearing a green Eagles muscle shirt that revealed his Eagles tattoos, told Reid to go win a Super Bowl. It was their first face-to-face encounter, but not the first time they had connected. In 2010, Thomas was badly wounded while serving in Iraq, outside Baghdad. He was in a coma for 20 days in a North Carolina hospital when his family shared his story with the Eagles.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Practice had ended minutes earlier, and most of the Eagles ambled to the locker room to shower and get out of the sun. Some complied to autograph and interview requests. Clay Harbor stayed on the field running routes for the backup quarterbacks. Harbor has a personal mission this training camp. After practice, the third-year tight end needs to catch 50 passes. He had caught extra passes during the last two training camps, but it was an inexact routine. This season, Harbor made an initiative to catch 50 each day. "That will help you a lot," Harbor said, "knowing you got 50 more catches after practice than your competition.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Brent Celek suffered a mild sprain in his right knee during practice Thursday, the Eagles said. The tight end caught a pass during the early portion of the first full-squad practice of training camp, but left soon after. Celek was later seen walking out of the locker room at Lehigh University wearing a wrap around his knee. "I'll be good," Celek said. "Promise. " Celek entered camp completely healthy, according to the team. This offseason, he underwent hip surgery and had a sports hernia repaired.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Eagles' most competitive roster battle might be at punter after the team signed veteran Mat McBriar to a one-year contract on Wednesday. McBriar, a two-time Pro Bowler with the Dallas Cowboys, will compete with incumbent Chas Henry for the roster spot during training camp and the preseason. "Should be great competition. That's what we're trying to do," coach Andy Reid said after Wednesday morning's practice. "You're talking about a kid that's one of the best in the National Football League.

BETHLEHEM — Brent Celek left practice early Thursday with what the Eagles described as a "mild" right knee sprain. Celek later walked briskly to the parking lot, waving off reporters' concerns with "I'll be good. I promise. " He was wearing a wrapping on his right leg. Just a day earlier, the Eagles seemed to be done with their tight-end flirtation. Visanthe Shiancoe had signed with the Patriots, and the Eagles hadn't opted to bring in four-time Pro Bowler Jeremy Shockey for a physical, after reports said they might.

BETHLEHEM — The man who likely will be a broken clavicle or torn rib cartilage away from the Eagles' starting quarterback job this season dropped back, set himself in the pocket, and heaved a deep pass downfield into a soft summer breeze for wide receiver Ron Johnson. But the throw, like too many of Mike Kafka's long passes, came up short. Rookie cornerback Brandon Boykin, who trailed Johnson by a step when the ball left Kafka's hand, turned around and snagged the underthrown ball for an easy interception.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Visanthe Shiancoe signed a one-year contract with New England, an NFL source said, ending the tight end's flirtation with the Eagles. Shiancoe worked out for the Eagles on Tuesday, but the 32-year-old free agent, who last played with the Vikings, signed with the Patriots instead, even though they already have two of the best tight ends in the league in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. General manager Howie Roseman said not long after the Eagles worked out Shiancoe that he was looking to add competition to the backup tight-end situation.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Charges against Eagles running back Dion Lewis after he and his older brother, Lamar, allegedly pulled a fire alarm at an Albany, N.Y., hotel will be dismissed in six months as long as both remain out of trouble. Lewis' attorney, Craig Crist, who was in Albany for the court hearing Monday with his client, confirmed the pending dismissal. The Lewises were charged with felony counts for falsely reporting a fire and misdemeanor counts for resisting arrest. Lewis, 21, and his brother, Lamar, 35, were arrested July 8 after police said they tried to knock down the glass doors of the lobby at a Hampton Inn, and then pulled an alarm after they were not permitted entry by hotel security.

The subject was Brent Celek, and the double sports hernia surgery and hip surgery the Eagles' starting tight end underwent at the end of the 2011 season. Clay Harbor, Celek's backup, was amazed. "That's big-time," Harbor said during Eagles OTAs this week. "My rookie season [2010], I played with one sports hernia. I was struggling?...?it was hard. I remember Brent coming off [the field] midway through the season saying, ‘I really gotta get this checked out. It's really starting to hurt.' We found out he had a [double]

ONE OF THE things the Eagles didn't do in the 2012 NFL draft was select a tight end. This reflected several things. One was a lousy tight-end draft class, which featured exactly one guy, Stanford's Coby Fleener, taken in the first two rounds (he went in the second to the Colts). It also reflected how good and durable 27-year-old Brent Celek has been. Presumably, it showed how much faith the Birds have in Celek's primary backup, third-year player Clay Harbor. Maybe somewhere in there, too, was the fact that the Eagles like Brett Brackett, the former Penn State wideout turned practice-squad tight end last season.