Marty Mornhinweg

MARTY Mornhinweg was just baiting us Thursday. Reporters kept asking the Eagles' offensive coordinator about taking a more conservative approach, in light of a dozen turnovers in three games (one of them on a punt return, granted). Mornhinweg was defiant, resolute. "We go after people, now," Mornhinweg said. "Look, look, look - I tell the players, we're going to be aggressive. You can be aggressive in the running game or the passing game, but we're going to be aggressive. I want them to be aggressive.

Bobby April declared that every day is a good one when you're a coach working in the NFL. "There are just certain . . . good days that are better than the other good days," the Eagles special-teams coordinator said Thursday as the Eagles prepared to play their first game without Juan Castillo on their coaching staff since the 1994 season. You have to imagine that the Monday after the Eagles' fall-from-ahead overtime loss to the Detroit Lions was one of the worst good days of Castillo's life.

If you read about Bill Walsh today, you're bound to come across a sentence that describes him as the brains behind the West Coast offense. Walsh, the former San Francisco 49ers coach and general manager who died yesterday at 75, was much more than that, according to Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. "He really was an innovator both on the field and off with the way he handled personnel and the way he practiced," Mornhinweg said yesterday at the Eagles' Lehigh University training camp.

The phone calls and text messages have been pouring in to Skyler Mornhinweg as news of Joe Paterno's ouster broke yesterday. Mornhinweg, the St. Joseph's Prep quarterback, is among the 16 high school seniors who have given verbal commitments to Penn State. Players cannot sign binding letters of intent until February. Through his mother, Lindsay, Skyler had no comment on the current situation. His father, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, said he would have no comment on his son's situation or rumors that he could succeed Paterno out of respect for the victims in the sex-abuse case against Jerry Sandusky.

Looks as if an Eagles coach could be going to Cleveland, but not the one initially rumored to be headed there. NFL.com reported last night that the Browns are expected to look at Dick Jauron as a candidate to be defensive coordinator under new coach Pat Shurmur, a former Eagles assistant who most recently ran the Rams' offense. Jauron, who coached the Birds' defensive backs this season, was on Browns president Mike Holmgren's Green Bay staff in the 1990s before becoming a head coach in Chicago and Buffalo.

It's a brave new world for Michael Vick, one that includes being asked about the exploits of scout-team receivers who make spectacular catches on his practice throws. Sixth-round rookie Brandon Gibson reeled in two onehanders from Vick, during the part of practice where the scout-team offense was supposed to be doing what the New Orleans Saints do, only not so well. Gibson set the bar high for the "real" Marques Colston. "Let's hope that once he gets out there in the game, he'll make the same kind of catches, and I think he will," Vick said.

In a sign that college football recruiting efforts have become more aggressive than ever, St. Joseph's Prep sophomore Skyler Mornhinweg has, according to some reports, already orally committed to play for Stanford. Mornhinweg, a member of the Class of 2012, is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound quarterback and defensive back for the Hawks. His father, Marty, is the offensive coordinator for the Eagles. Mornhinweg declined to comment on his decision last night and said that a news conference to announce his college choice has been tentatively set for Tuesday.

Ty Detmer, who began last season as the Eagles' starting quarterback, is close to signing with the San Francisco 49ers. A person close to Detmer said the quarterback was leaning toward the 49ers after also visiting Atlanta, Chicago and Cincinnati. In San Francisco, Detmer would serve as a backup to 37-year-old Steve Young and a tutor for Jim Druckenmiller, last year's first-round draft pick. Detmer, 30, would be reunited with Niners head coach Steve Mariucci and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, who coached the quarterbacks in Green Bay while Detmer was with the Packers.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - It finally happened. A pass hit Jason Avant's fingers, and then the grass at Lehigh. Let the record show it happened Sunday morning, during an 11-on-11 drill, on a short throw over the middle from Kevin Kolb. By the coaches' count, it was Avant's first drop of Eagles training camp. Until then, he had kept the pigskin pristine. By offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's count early last week, Avant had caught 80 passes in competitive drills (seven-on-seven or full team)

St. Joseph's Prep quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg is expected to end the suspense surrounding his football future with an announcement that could come as early as Monday. On Friday, several reports had the 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior switching his commitment to Florida from Penn State. "As of two days ago, based on a really good source, he was 100 percent going to Florida," Mike Farrell, of Rivals.com, said Sunday evening. "Unless he's had second thoughts, I think it's a done deal.

MOBILE, Ala. - Same familiar black short-sleeve shirt, different surroundings. Andy Reid was sitting with some of his new Kansas City Chiefs cohorts Tuesday afternoon at the South team's Senior Bowl practice, Reid getting a faceful of sun in the East stands at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Like Chip Kelly, his replacement with the Eagles, Reid said he has spent much of his time since being hired by his new team "mainly just hiring coaches. " Then, with new Chiefs general manager John Dorsey sitting next to him, Reid said: "We went through the process of hiring a general manager.

Don't look for Michael Vick to speed up the Jersey Turnpike to MetLife Stadium now that Marty Mornhinweg is offensive coordinator for the Jets. According to ESPN.com, the two were not on the best of terms last season when Mornhinweg called plays for the Eagles, and that relationship - along with Vick's price tag - makes a reunion unlikely. When Mornhinweg was hired by the Jets last week, the immediate thought was that he might be looking to bring Vick with him. The Eagles have only two weeks to decide about keeping Vick.

The Eagles released Todd Bowles from his contract to allow the defensive coordinator to interview with other teams, an NFL source said. Several reports Friday said that Bowles was expected to get the defensive coordinator job with the Cardinals. He would be joining his former Temple coach, Bruce Arians, who was named Arizona's head coach on Thursday. Bowles, who was promoted by the Eagles midseason after Juan Castillo was fired, will replace Ray Horton, who left for the Browns.

Nobody is interested in hearing that the main reason the Eagles missed the playoffs the last two seasons is turnovers. From a fan's standpoint, turnovers don't cut it as a satisfying excuse for ineptitude. They're right down there with injuries and the dog ate my homework. You can't fire turnovers. You can't second-guess them. You can't boo a turnover for missing a block or blowing a coverage or short-arming a pass or getting called for holding in the red zone. You can't criticize a turnover for poor clock management or make fun of it when it says it didn't put its players in better position to make plays.

In his three years before coming to the Eagles, Bryce Brown carried a football 104 times. In three months as an Eagles running back, Brown has carried the ball 103 times. This is why the Eagles are being patient with the talented 21-year-old, who can seduce observers with his skills and infuriate them with his gaffes. Brown, a rookie seventh-round pick, started the last four weeks in LeSean McCoy's place. He rushed for more than 160 yards and scored two touchdowns in each of his first two starts.

THIS IS MY 11th year covering the Eagles, and through about 10 1/2 of those years, I could not envision a day when reporters would matter-of-factly ask Andy Reid about coaching his final home game, while asking Reid's players how the fans should mark the final trip to the sideline for the franchise's longest-tenured and winningest coach. But then, I thought the Eagles would make the playoffs this season, barring catastrophic injury. Injuries did indeed reach catastrophic levels, well after the Birds had exposed themselves as overhyped failures.

THE EVIDENCE is mounting, but proof remains a nebulous thing. Nick Foles progressed Thursday night. In the Bengals' 34-13 rout mottled by five turnovers and a blocked punt, there were reasons to like the Eagles' third-round rookie a little bit more. He hit seven receivers with 16 passes on 33 attempts for 182 yards and a touchdown. He led an undermanned offense back from a 10-0 first-quarter deficit to a 13-10 halftime lead. He endured nine penalties. He weathered wave after wave of ravenous rushers, and was sacked just once.

TAMPA - Two seconds left, Eagles' ball just inside the Tampa 2-yard line, Bucs call timeout, Nick Foles trots to the sideline. Marty Mornhinweg holds up a list of what he later refers to as "plus-5, red-zone, fourth-down-to-win-the-game" plays. "He called it," Mornhinweg said. "He said, 'I want that one.' I didn't quite hear him. I said, 'Who said that? You say that?' " Indeed, Foles had said that. The offensive coordinator didn't need to hear any more. He high-fived the rookie quarterback.

ASKED IF HE has been consciously calling plays to protect rookie quarterback Nick Foles, especially given a revamped offensive line and the gutting of his skill players by injury, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg acknowledged as much. "Sure, absolutely, there's no question about that, especially early," he said. "[But] we are much better right now because they have played together for at least a few weeks here. So we're better that way. All of our players have the mentality that they're going to get better as an individual, as a group, and as an offensive unit.

Nick Foles' first action this season came against the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 11. With Michael Vick out with a concussion, Foles stepped in and completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 219 yards and a touchdown. There was excitement despite a loss about Foles' future. Three weeks later, Foles is preparing to play the Cowboys again - this time as the starter. Vick still has not passed the ImPACT test that measures cognitive function and is unlikely to play on Sunday. Yet there are still questions about Foles' ability, especially after two games in which he failed to throw a touchdown and appeared closer to a third-round project than a third-round steal.