Jerome Mcdougle

When the Eagles began training camp in July, they expected Victor Abiamiri to challenge Juqua Parker for the starting job at left defensive end. Then Abiamiri broke his right wrist. They expected Chris Clemons, who started out well, to advance on the depth chart as a third-down pass rusher. But Clemons has been bothered for more than a week with a calf injury. They weren't sure where former first-round pick Jerome McDougle stood, but they liked his attitude in camp. They wanted to see some more from Montae Reagor, but he just had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.

The ruckus began after the kickoff. Safety J.R. Reed and linebacker Andy Studebaker were in a tug-of-war on the ground long after the whistle blew, jostling for position with neither willing to concede a blade of grass. "We were just out there having fun," Reed said. "He's blocking me. We went to the ground. It's football. It happens. Off the field we're friends. On the field, it's a competition. " Competitiveness defines J.R. Reed. It's a spirit that has allowed the 26-year-old defensive back to beat the odds, remaining in football despite limited movement in his left foot because of the condition known as drop foot.

This is not a position of familiarity for Jerome McDougle. He is the one the Eagles coaches are excitedly singling out. He is the one feeling sorry for others. He is the one trying to take advantage of some luck. He is healthy. "It's kind of weird," McDougle said. "But I feel for those guys because I know how hard it is to go through those things, to bust your butt in the off-season and then to get injured in training camp. I know how it is. " Does he ever. Entering his sixth season with the Eagles, McDougle has missed more games than he's played at defensive end. He suffered from knee and ankle injuries, an irregular heartbeat, fractured ribs and a triceps tear.

EAGLES FANS are approaching this weekend's draft with a sense of dread. They would love to see head coach Andy Reid and general manager Tom Heckert do something really sexy with the team's first-round pick on Saturday, like take a wide receiver (Michigan State's Devin Thomas? Cal's DeSean Jackson?) or a running back (Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall? Arkansas' Felix Jones?) or even a cornerback (Kansas' Aqib Talib? South Florida's Mike Jenkins?) if, as expected, Lito Sheppard is traded.

THERE ARE plenty of things to criticize the Eagles for right now without making stuff up. Want to rip them for blowing all that free-agent money on underachievers Jevon Kearse and Darren Howard? Be my guest. Want to call them out for wasting high-round draft picks on stiffs like Jerome McDougle , Matt McCoy , Matt Ware , Ryan Moats and Billy McMullen ? Go for it. But the popular talk-show notion that the problem with the 3-5 Eagles right now is that they don't have good enough wide receivers, well, that one I'm not buying.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - When you're playing without five starters like the Eagles were last night, there are some things you can't do if you hope to have any chance of winning. One, of course, is give up 12 sacks. Another is commit a truckload of penalties. Coach Andy Reid's team never has been very good at that second one. They led the league in penalty yards last season, getting flagged 112 times for 983 yards. Managed to win their fifth division title in 6 years, but lost a couple of big games along the way because of their lack of discipline.

Eagles coach Andy Reid addressed an assortment of injuries in a statement released by the team before practice yesterday. Some of the news was awful: Defensive end Jerome McDougle's season was apparently over before it started for the second time in his star-crossed, five-year NFL career. Reid said McDougle "suffered a significant right-triceps injury and looks like he's out for the year. " Some of the news was expected: Reid reiterated that running back Ryan Moats fractured his left ankle in Monday night's preseason loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and said that "surgery on that ankle is pending.

Crunch Time is a compilation of hits and a few misses from Eagles training camp: BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The perception among those watching is that the Eagles are running the ball more than usual in the early days of camp. In fact, the debate along the sideline among sweat-drenched reporters begging for a Lehigh breeze yesterday was over whether the Birds were running it more to help the offense establish the run or to help the defense gain confidence in stopping it. (The defense certainly seems to have had the upper hand so far, regardless of whether it's first-team offense against second-team defense, or what.

Expectations are high again. Turbulence is low, at least in terms of football-related matters. Sure, there are some health-related issues - quarterback Donovan McNabb and tight end L.J. Smith top that list - but you will find them at every training camp in the NFL. The Eagles obviously believe they are a team built to win and compete for a Super Bowl title. The process of proving it started yesterday, when a group of 39 rookies and selected veterans checked into the dorm rooms at Lehigh University.

The Eagles signed defensive end Victor Abiamiri and running back Nate Ilaoa yesterday, leaving quarterback Kevin Kolb as the only remaining unsigned player on the roster as the team prepares to open training camp Friday at Lehigh University. Abiamiri, a second-round pick from Notre Dame, and Ilaoa, a seventh-round pick out of Hawaii, received four-year deals. Abiamiri will compete for a place at defensive end, where the Eagles have five other players with significant NFL experience: Jevon Kearse, Darren Howard, Trent Cole, Juqua Thomas and Jerome McDougle.