Jason Peters

INDIANAPOLIS - Chip Kelly appeared no closer to deciding on a defensive scheme, or at least revealing his plans publicly. There are obvious reasons Kelly has been reluctant to tip his hand, even though new defensive coordinator Bill Davis has worked primarily with 3-4 schemes and employed a 4-3 "under" in Arizona that looked like an odd-man front. The uncertainty allows the Eagles to obscure their plans in free agency and the draft. "I really think it's going to be an evolving thing," Kelly said Thursday at the NFL combine.

When Michael Vick last played in North Jersey, he was at the apex of his career renaissance. It was 2010, and Vick led an improbable fourth-quarter comeback over the New York Giants that helped the Eagles win the NFC East. It was perhaps his last great moment with the Eagles. Vick's career since that day has been marked by injuries and inconsistency. But one big difference between the 2010 Vick and the 2012 Vick has been a reshaped offensive line, both in terms of personnel and scheme.

Last March, after extending Todd Herremans' contract and re-signing Evan Mathis, the Eagles said they felt as confident about their offensive line as any other position group. With the new contracts, they had all five of their starters locked up at least through 2014. Considering the progression the line had made by the end of the 2011 season, that was seen as a positive. But, less than two weeks after the ink was dry on Mathis' five-year deal, all-pro left tackle Jason Peters ruptured the Achilles tendon in his right foot and was done for the season.

Leave it to Howard Mudd, avid motorcyclist, to evoke a riding metaphor when asked if some recent time off would extend his coaching life. "There's still some gas in the tank," Mudd said Tuesday. "I want to drive fast, too, and I want to go a long ways. " Mudd made his first appearance at spring practices this offseason. With the blessing of coach Andy Reid, the 71-year-old offensive line coach skipped four weeks of voluntary workouts in an effort to stay fresh for the coming season.

MARTY Mornhinweg had the mop and broom out Thursday. "We've got to clean an awful lot of things up," the Eagles' offensive coordinator said. "Much more to clean up after the first game than I certainly ever expected, at, really, all positions. " Well, at least they can take their time with it. It's not like Mornhinweg's offense is facing a really imposing defense this week, or anything, when John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens visit. "They've been living on the defense for years.

THE BEST THING about the NFL is that it's not the NBA. If you're an NBA team and fall on hard times, the road back to respectability is longer than the Appalachian Trail. A fan could get caught robbing a bank, do a couple of nickels in Lewisburg and still be back on the street before your favorite team gets good enough to make it to the second round of the playoffs again. Not in the NFL, though, where they've got more rags-to-riches stories than the Pennsylvania lottery. It has become routine in the parity-filled league for teams to stink up the joint one year and make it back to the playoffs the next.

Bobby April and his special- teams units have been very lucky lately, and he knows it. In the last two games, the special teams have had three turnovers and a punt blocked. The defense helped limit the damage, taking the ball back twice, but the other two led to touchdowns for the opposition and could have been huge momentum swings if the offense and defense hadn't played better. "Those were major, major gaffes," April said Wednesday. "You can't do those two things in a game and generally win. " The blocked punt came against Miami, and then the Eagles lost the ball on a punt return when DeSean Jackson threw across the field to rookie Curtis Marsh, who was immediately hit and fumbled.

Eagles left tackle Jason Peters left Friday's practice with what coach Andy Reid said was tenderness in an Achilles tendon and ankle and officially was listed as questionable for Sunday night's game at Atlanta. In a brief interview, Peters later said he expects to play. He did not have any noticeable problem walking. "Nothing looks to be too serious, so they're going to check it out and see how he's doing," Reid said after practice. "He seems to be doing well now. " If Peters can't play, the Eagles likely will go with King Dunlap at left tackle.

The trade for DeMeco Ryans comes with a cautionary tale. You may have heard it before: The Eagles acquire an established player from another team - in this case, a former two-time Pro Bowl linebacker from Houston - and that player does not deliver upon expectations. See: Jevon Kearse and Stacy Andrews. Ryans comes with rather large expectations, although they're tempered with the fact that he is only two years removed from a ruptured Achilles tendon and that he is moving back into the middle of a 4-3 defense after a season as one of two inside linebackers in a 3-4. The Eagles say they believe that Ryans, whom they acquired from the Texans in March for a fourth-round draft pick, is no longer hindered by his injury.

Damaris Johnson juked Pittsburgh punter Jeremy Kapinos to the ground and appeared headed for the end zone. It took a diving shoestring tackle by Myron Rolle to stop the Eagles rookie. Johnson had collected the ball at the Eagles' 22-yard line. He started running to his left before finding a seam, bursting into the fifth gear that makes him a dangerous punt returner. A block in the back brought the long return back, but the reason for optimism persists. The penalties are correctable.