Eagles

This summer, hair weaves are taking a turn for the kinky, the curly and the wavy. Why is this news? When black women first started sewing hair onto their scalps during the 1990s en masse, the resulting shoulder-length bobs were as much about achieving a smooth texture as it was about having length. Fabulous hair was defined as long and straight. However, as more black women have come to terms with their natural curl pattern, store-bought tresses are trending toward the fuzzy rather than the flat-ironed.

There are two sides to Michael Vick's athleticism. At times, his breathtaking talent conjures gains from thin air when the defense is closing in. But last season, Vick's unfailing belief in his own ability too often led to risky plays and game-changing turnovers. "He gets caught sometimes doing too much, trying to do too much, and that's where he gets in trouble," Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson said Monday in advance of full-team practices that begin Tuesday. "We eliminate those and keep him within our system, and positive things are going to happen.

The dynamic may have shifted slightly, some tinkering may have been done, but the Eagles still conduct business as they always have. And yet, the narrative, after what unanimously has been declared a successful offseason, has been that the Eagles have significantly altered their philosophy or shaken up the front office after a disastrous 2011. Not true. They have made changes. However, they are micro adjustments that owner Jeffrey Lurie hopes will have a net macro result - the Eagles finally winning a Super Bowl.

Ryan Howard felt a tiny pinch Sept. 18 when a team physician's needle penetrated the numbed surface of a left heel that had been throbbing red-hot for weeks. Within seconds, the syringe's milky mixture of cortisone and painkiller rushed warmly into the tiny, inflamed bursa sac at the base of the slugger's Achilles tendon. Howard and the Phillies were rolling the dice. They hoped the cortisone would ease the pain and, after a brief rest, return him to form for the fast-approaching postseason.

This will make the stomachs of most Philadelphia sports fans turn. The New York Giants on Wednesday unveiled the championship rings they will get for winning Super Bowl XLVI. It's a nice ring – gaudy as heck, like all Super Bowl rings, but nice. The ring, which was designed by Tiffany & Co., is stacked with diamonds and has four Vince Lombardi trophies to represent the franchise's four Super Bowl titles. It also has sapphires surrounding an "ny" and forming a "Big" blue ring around the top. On the inside of the ring, the words "Finish" and "All in" are engraved.Those were the Giants' catchphrases on their amazing run of 2011.

There is ample time for the Eagles and LeSean McCoy to agree on a contract extension, with 74 days left until the start of training camp. But is July 25 - the day veterans are to report to Lehigh - really a deadline or an arbitrary date in negotiations? If McCoy plans on holding out, then yes, it would be a deadline of sorts, although the Eagles may not view it that way. The Pro Bowl running back has one year left on his contract and the team may consider that all the leverage it needs to get him into camp on time.

THE GENERAL consensus of folks outside the walls of One NovaCare Way in January was that the Eagles' two biggest offseason fix-it jobs were linebacker and safety. In a mild upset, the folks inside the walls of One NovaCare Way actually agreed with the folks outside the walls on one of those two things. After years of getting by at linebacker with duct tape and mid- and late-round picks, the Eagles have been very aggressive in trying to upgrade the position, trading for two-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans in late March, and then selecting their likely season-opening starting strongside linebacker, Mychal Kendricks, in the second round of the draft last month.

The Eagles announced Wednesday that former offensive line coach Bill Walsh, 84, died Sunday at his home in Atlanta. Mr. Walsh spent 32 years coaching professional football and wrapped up his career with the Eagles from 1987 to '91 before retiring, the Eagles said in a statement. A former star at Phillipsburg (N.J.) High School, Mr. Walsh played college football at Notre Dame, where he was an all-American center and a part of two national championship teams. After a six-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and two all-pro selections, Mr. Walsh began his pro coaching career in 1960 with the Dallas Texans of the American Football League.

THE OFFSEASON NFL players lost to the lockout last year has been blamed for just about every unfortunate thing that's happened, this side of the "Twilight" movies. Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson threw another log on the fire Monday, when he opined that the falloff in QB Michael Vick's play last season had a lot to do with Vick not being able to review mistakes with coaches and fine-tune this time a year ago. "Honestly, I think it was the offseason," Pederson said during a rare NovaCare media session with Eagles offensive position coaches, minus offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who isn't in town.

So much for warm welcomes. The Southern boys' basketball team spoiled Shannon Bussey's homecoming yesterday. The Rams' ferocious defense forced visiting George Washington into 22 turnovers, held Bussey, the Eagles' main offensive weapon, in check the entire game, and won, 76-45. Bussey, considered a contender for the Public League scoring title, averaged 23.3 points per contest last season. But he was held to just 13 points yesterday, seven of them coming at the free-throw line.

Most of the Eagles questions this spring involve the defense. On offense, as we've written, the biggest issue is Michael Vick, health and turnovers. There is one other significant offensive unknown, currently listed at 6-5, 311. Demetress Bell talked to reporters Wednesday after his first 2 days lining up as the left tackle, next to Evan Mathis. Bell might have been the best free agent still on the market when Jason Peters tore his Achilles' (the first time, in March), but that hardly makes him Peters, who was selected for the last five Pro Bowls, who might have been the best left tackle in football in 2011.

THE LATE Jim Johnson was a sports writer's dream. If you asked him a question, he almost always gave you an honest, unvarnished answer. "I've got to do a better job," and "I need to put my players in better position to make plays" wasn't his style. Johnson wasn't above occasionally using the media to send messages to his players, whether it was tooting the horn of a rookie backup to light a fire under a veteran or suggesting, as he did once about cornerback Lito Sheppard, that the guy couldn't play unless he was completely healthy.

Nate Allen tracked Clay Harbor. The two Eagles raced across the middle of the field. As a pass flew in, Allen reached with his left hand, and swatted the ball to the ground. Fellow safety Kurt Coleman was waiting to congratulate him. Crouching, they slapped hands low four times - Allen swinging right, left, right, left - then each swung an arm overhead, connecting at the inside of their elbows. The pair of safeties, one laid back, one emotional, one a highly touted second-round pick, one a seventh-rounder, have been close since they arrived together in the 2010 draft.

BRANDON Boykin is the Eagles' flavor of the month. A feisty, physical, 5-9 cornerback/return man whom folks have been gushing about ever since he fell into the team's lap in the fourth round of last month's draft. Many already have assumed that when the Eagles open the regular season on Sept. 9 in Cleveland, Boykin will be their No. 3 corner, manning the inside in their nickel package, with Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on the outside. You'll forgive Joselio Hanson if he doesn't go along with that assumption.

DeMECO RYANS manned the middle of the Eagles' defense for the first time Tuesday, standing in a shaft of light beaming from the heavens that followed Ryans about the NovaCare field, as unicorns frolicked and celestial choirs . . . OK, it really wasn't all that dramatic. Just a guy in short pants and a helmet, wearing jersey No. 59, looking a little bigger than your typical Eagles middle linebacker, at 6-1, 237. Rookie strongside starter Mychal Kendricks stood on one side of Ryans (confirming what had been whispered)

When he arrived here in 2010, Brandon Graham was all smiles, a cheery defensive end who promised to put quarterbacks in the dirt. Drafted 13th overall, Graham embraced the spotlight, the media and all the trappings that come with being a first-round pick. Two years later, Graham is most familiar with the flip side of being a top selection: pressure, scrutiny, high expectations and harsh criticism for falling short. Those realities all tail him as he enters a critical third season in the NFL, still trying to make his mark with the Eagles.

Never have so many been so glad to see a bunch of professional football players running around in shorts. Organized Team Activities (OTAs or, as we called them before the NFL was completely bloated with self-importance, minicamps) have come to South Philadelphia. That is welcome news for two reasons: one, because it signifies the unofficial start of the 2012 season; and two, because it signifies the official end of all the lame excuses about how the lack of running-around-in-shorts time hurt the Eagles in 2011.

There are two sides to Michael Vick's athleticism. At times, his breathtaking talent conjures gains from thin air when the defense is closing in. But last season, Vick's unfailing belief in his own ability too often led to risky plays and game-changing turnovers. "He gets caught sometimes doing too much, trying to do too much, and that's where he gets in trouble," Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson said Monday in advance of full-team practices that begin Tuesday. "We eliminate those and keep him within our system, and positive things are going to happen.

You don't spend millions on a top-of-the-line running back only to keep him parked in the garage. But do you lighten his load, as Eagles coach Andy Reid said he would do with franchise tailback LeSean McCoy, because of the hefty investment? McCoy played more snaps that any other running back in the NFL last season - and he sat out the finale. Even before McCoy signed a five-year, $45 million extension last week, Reid suggested that he was going to try and limit McCoy's touches.

THE OFFSEASON NFL players lost to the lockout last year has been blamed for just about every unfortunate thing that's happened, this side of the "Twilight" movies. Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Pederson threw another log on the fire Monday, when he opined that the falloff in QB Michael Vick's play last season had a lot to do with Vick not being able to review mistakes with coaches and fine-tune this time a year ago. "Honestly, I think it was the offseason," Pederson said during a rare NovaCare media session with Eagles offensive position coaches, minus offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who isn't in town.