Demeco Ryans

Looking to improve a punting game that has been lacking, the Eagles signed two-time all-pro punter Donnie Jones to a one-year contract after his former team, the Texans, signed Shane Lechler to a deal on Friday. The addition of Jones led to the release of Mat McBriar. Signed by the Eagles during training camp last summer, cut before the season, and then brought back in September, McBriar never fully rebounded from offseason foot surgery and finished tied for last in the NFL in net punting average.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Eagles have room to add another defensive tackle, with free agents Derek Landri and Trevor Laws still unsigned. Mike Patterson, Cullen Jenkins, Antonio Dixon, and Cedric Thornton are under contract, but the Eagles carried five defensive tackles last season. Thornton, an undrafted rookie, could be expendable. The Eagles could be targeting one of a number of attractive defensive tackles in the first round of next month's draft. General manager Howie Roseman agreed that it is a position of strength in the draft.

HE CAME HERE to be the glue, to pull together a disjointed defense that had underperformed the year before because of a perceived softness and a lack of leadership. Of the muted criticisms aimed at DeMeco Ryans from time to time, softness or lack of leadership were never among them. He was tough, he could tackle, and he wasn't afraid to talk. None of that, as it turned out, was enough to save the Philadelphia Eagles' defense from itself last season. Whether it was early under the big-play susceptible schemes of Juan Castillo, or later under the more erratic tenure of Todd Bowles, Ryans' hopeful midweek messages to his team and fans began to sound more and more like the rantings of Monty Python's "Black Knight" as November became December, still uttering bravado even when no limbs remained.

THE EAGLES have been slow to join the 3-4 defense party, but it sounds as if they are headed that way under new coach Chip Kelly. As everything continues to remain a state secret, we are only going to find out when we find out. But with more and more teams headed that way, there seems to be an unstated-but-growing consensus in the NFL that the 3-4 gives you more options against the variety of wide-open offensive attacks that are now the standard....

MICHAEL VICK was pretty calm for a man who had just salvaged his reputation on national television. But then, this 19-17 victory over the New York Giants was the game Vick told us all week he was going to play - decisive, strong and turnover-free. "I take pride in protecting the ball and I always have," Vick said in a Lincoln Financial Field corridor after the Eagles' latest great escape. "I know the reasons why I turned the ball over," with six interceptions and three fumbles the first 3 weeks.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young overwhelmed one of the strongest rookie classes in NFL history to win the Associated Press offensive rookie of the year award, the news agency announced. Young, who led the University of Texas to the 2005 national championship and was the third overall pick in last April's draft, received 23 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sportswriters and sports broadcasters. That easily beat New Orleans wide receiver Marques Colston and Jacksonville running back Maurice Drew, who had nine votes apiece; San Diego tackle Marcus McNeill (6)

Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin's status is in question for the home opener against Baltimore after he sustained a hip flexor strain and a hip pointer in Sunday's 17-16 win over the Cleveland Browns. "As you know with hip pointers, those things hurt you a lot more the next couple of days than they do when they actually happen," coach Andy Reid said. Reid said he needs to wait to see how Maclin feels in the next couple of days before determining whether the Eagles must make a roster move.

BETHLEHEM - So, back to NovaCare. The Eagles aren't ready for the season to start, and they have 3 more weeks before it does, but when the moving trucks clog the road beside the fields at Lehigh and the team packs up to head home, that's always a benchmark of some sort. What have we learned? "The thing I was looking for, were they gonna carry over that energy that they had at the end of last season [when the Eagles won their final four games], that they brought into the OTAs, now could they bring it into this camp here?"

IF OFFENSES want to pull in their horns to keep from giving up sacks, as has happened the past few weeks, the Eagles' defense can deal with that. But not being able to generate turnovers is a problem that must be fixed, several Birds defenders said Wednesday. "You just have to be focused on getting the ball out, when the ball is up in the air," middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "We've got to find a way to come down with those things. " The Eagles have created one turnover the past three games - Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's end-zone interception of Giants quarterback Eli Manning in the game before last.

OFFENSE 1. MICHAEL VICK'S HEALTH AND MINDSET: Yeah, you've heard all you need to hear about this over the last 6 months or so, but that's because it's the most important factor in determining the Eagles' success level. Guarantee me a 16-game, healthy Vick who gambles less, cuts last season's 14 picks in half, I will guarantee you a playoff berth. Period. 2. KING DUNLAP: The Week 1 starting left tackle has started two games there in his Eagles career. In intermittent work at various spots over the past three seasons, the King has shown a troubling tendency to get dinged, taking him out of contention for an expanded role.