Demeco Ryans

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.

IT TAKES A village to cover a tight end, or something like that. Jamar Chaney said Thursday his hamstring is 100 percent, as the Eagles continued to try to find the right mix of linebackers in base and nickel for their season opener Sunday at Cleveland. Rookie Mychal Kendricks, the strongside starter who also plays in nickel, said he expects all the linebackers who are active to play some sort of role against the Browns, not only the starting group of Kendricks, DeMeco Ryans and Akeem Jordan.

1 Juan Castillo carries over the promise of the last four games of 2011. Twenty-four coordinators helmed defenses that allowed more yards than Juan Castillo's unit in 2011. Twenty-two were accountable for defenses that surrendered more points than Castillo's group. These facts aren't meant to suggest that Castillo, in his first year as a defensive coordinator, was the second coming of Buddy Ryan. He was not. The five fourth-quarter leads the Eagles coughed up in the first nine games weren't solely the fault of the defense.

They all gush about DeMeco Ryans the leader. But if Ryans the player can't deliver on even average expectations, then it won't matter if he leads like Abraham Lincoln. The Eagles may have never needed a middle linebacker to be so many things as they do this season. When they traded for Ryans in March, they said he would fill that multifaceted role - a three-down player who will be the defensive quarterback and lead not only a young linebacker group, but the entire defense. He appears to have already taken the reins in the relatively brief time he's spent with the Eagles.

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?"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - It's time for football, as defensive end Trent Cole said. While the Eagles will play with heavy hearts Thursday night, the show must go on. The Eagles open the preseason against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field just four days after Andy Reid's son, Garrett, was found dead. After fans warmly greet him and the Eagles honor his son, Reid will get his first opportunity to see the team he has assembled for 2012 in game action. The starters will play only a quarter, but there will be more to watch as the coach begins the process of whittling his roster from 90 to 53 before the start of the regular season.

One season later, the same problems appeared to exist. The Eagles' defensive woes in the back seven were supposed to be rectified in 2012 with new additions in the linebacker corps and more familiarity among the secondary. But in Thursday's 24-23 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the starting defense too closely resembled the 2011 defense. For those on the field, though, it was a different story. Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha insisted that it's far too premature to make any assessments from Thursday.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Not every day is a completely successful day at training camp, not every practice moves DeMeco Ryans closer to where he wants to be with the Eagles, but Thursday was just fine. "It's coming. It's going in the right direction," Ryans said. "And I know because I'm my toughest critic. " Ryans came to the team in an offseason trade to fill what has been a gaping hole at middle linebacker. He brought with him six years of NFL experience, a reputation as a popular team leader, and the standard question marks attached to a veteran who suffered an Achilles tendon injury not that long ago. If he can stay healthy and show enough mobility to remain on the field in passing situations, Ryans is just what the Eagles defense needs - a shot of maturity chased by a pint of attitude.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - DeMeco Ryans trailed Casey Matthews out of the locker rooms and into the players' parking lot after the first full-team practice of training camp Thursday. Matthews gave Ryans a lift back to the living area because Ryans doesn't have his car at training camp. Akeem Jordan brought the new Eagles starting linebacker to Lehigh from Philadelphia on Wednesday, so Ryans is fetching rides wherever he goes. The front passenger seat might be the only place this season in which Ryans must yield control.

These are the moves that defined the Eagles' offseason. We're attempting to rank them by importance: 1  The trade for DeMeco Ryans: If you said the signing of Demetress Bell to replace left tackle Jason Peters was really the most important move of the offseason, you might be right in a strict football sense, but if you're talking about intangibles, about calming the smoldering outrage of the fan base, Ryans has to be No. 1. For so long, the...