Max Jean Gilles

POSITION: Right guard HEIGHT, WEIGHT: 6-0, 350 AGE: 24 BIRTHDATE: July 28, 1984 HOMETOWN: Lawton, Okla. COLLEGE: New Mexico State YEARS PRO: 3 (all with Eagles) HOW ACQUIRED: Signed as a rookie free agent in 2006. He is not related to Eagles defensive lineman Trent Cole. THIS YEAR: A backup center, Cole played all 14 games and started the last two at right guard in place of Max Jean-Gilles. FAVORITE ATHLETE: Former Chiefs offensive lineman Will Shields, a 12-time Pro Bowler and likely Hall of Famer from Lawton, who retired after the 2006 season.

Six days after suffering a concussion, Max Jean-Gilles returned to practice Saturday. The Eagles guard passed all of his post-concussion testing and has been cleared to play, according to coach Andy Reid. Jean-Gilles is listed as questionable for Monday night's game at Washington, however, and if he can't go, Nick Cole will start at right guard. Jean-Gilles left in the first half of the Colts game Sunday. He said the concussion was the first of his career and that he felt "pretty confident that I'm playing" Monday.

Here are some issues to check on as the Eagles gear up for the Redskins next Monday. 3 Can LeSean McCoy continue to make the Eagles' ground game a feared part of their attack? 3 Will Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb be ready to rock on Monday night or will he be brooding over Mike Shanahan's treatment? 3 Will Kevin Kolb ever see a snap again unless Michael Vicks gets injured? 3 Poor Brent Celek. He had a touchdown catch called back by penalty on Sunday and wound up with no catches.

Even as the NFL inched closer to a labor shutdown that could threaten the 2011 season, the Eagles were taking care of business yesterday. The team announced that quarterback Michael Vick has signed his exclusive franchise tender, which guarantees Vick at least $16 million this season, if there is a season. The Eagles also tendered some prospective restricted free agents, linebacker Stewart Bradley (second-round level), guard Max Jean-Gilles (fourth-round level), and cornerback Dimitri Patterson (no compensation owed)

At precisely 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, the NFL deadline for reducing rosters to the 53-man limit, the Eagles had a little problem with the two-minute drill again. It doesn't appear that anyone threw up this time, but the deadline passed while the Eagles were completing the packing slip that would ship Stacy Andrews to Seattle to, as Buddy Ryan used to say, "allow him to get on with his life's work. " The deal wasn't completed until 6:03 p.m., and the NFL front office, those sticklers, forced the Eagles to remove someone else from the roster to account for the 180-second delay.

By his own admission, Mike McGlynn was a work in progress this season. The same could be said for the entire Eagles offensive line. Right to the bitter end, when King Dunlap replaced Winston Justice at right tackle in the second half of Sunday's 21-16 wild-card playoff loss to Green Bay, the Eagles' offensive line was unsettled and unsteady. One constant in the lineup was McGlynn, a third-year player who took over the starting center position from the injured Jamal Jackson in Week 2. But McGlynn's situation underscored the shaky state of the offensive line as the former University of Pittsburgh athlete was playing center for the first time in his career and was forced to learn on the fly. "You can't replace experience," McGlynn said.

  BETHLEHEM - Eldra Buckley was running for the second-team offense, against the first-unit defense, and as usual, he was running hard. Buckley blasted through a hole up the middle, but after a few yards he encountered corner Asante Samuel, who - believe it or not - squared up, got low and delivered a solid hit, Samuel just back from a hamstring injury/vacation. Buckley spun off the hit, dreadlocks flying, stayed upright and pinballed another 10 yards or so downfield. The green-clad offensive players on the sideline, previously a bit subdued on yet another morning of live hitting at Lehigh, erupted into hoots and cheers.

As the start of training camp crept closer and Shawn Andrews was still missing, Max Jean-Gilles began to worry. See, if one person is absent, that means someone could be relegated to double reps, playing with both the first and second teams. And even though the burly Jean-Gilles dropped 20 pounds this summer and considers himself in good shape, that was not exactly an appealing scenario. "I thought I was going to go with the ones and twos," Jean-Gilles said with a smirk. "But I'm just going with the ones.

As the Eagles continue to sign rookies to four-year contracts - they are on the verge of signing tight end Cornelius Ingram - one player who signed such a deal three years ago is looking for an extension. And he's gearing up by acquiring the services of agent Drew Rosenhaus. Max Jean-Gilles confirmed yesterday that he has retained Rosenhaus Sports as his representative. Rosenhaus, who represents Terrell Owens among many other NFL players, announced his new client on Twitter, the Internet messaging site.

LANDOVER, Md. - Max Jean-Gilles ' surprise attendance at Saturday's practice, just six days after he suffered a concussion against the Colts, left open the question of who would start at right guard Monday night. But when lineups were announced, Nick Cole was the starter. It was his first start since Week 3, when he aggravated a knee injury. Jean-Gilles started the next week and had held down the spot until his concussion - the sixth head injury for the Eagles this season. Jean-Gilles was the only reserve guard Monday night.

The Eagles are not pursuing their 15 free agents as NFL business resumes, and will almost certainly not bring any of them back, including starters such as linebacker Stewart Bradley and punter Sav Rocca and backup running back Jerome Harrison. Safety Quintin Mikell, long expected to depart, agreed to a deal Tuesday with the St. Louis Rams. Kicker David Akers also has been expected to leave ever since the Eagles drafted kicker Alex Henery in the fourth round. Other free agents expected to be allowed to depart include cornerback Dimitri Patterson, guards Nick Cole, Max Jean-Gilles and Reggie Wells, and linebackers Ernie Sims, Omar Gaither and Akeem Jordan.

Even though draft prognostication and second-guessing are great fun for the fans, I think we all, deep down, would concede that we don't have the information and experience that general managers and coaches have. Before drafting a player, Andy Reid has probably watched film of nearly every play he played in his college career. Andy is now the longest-tenured coach in the NFL, and many fans think that he has not had a good record of success with his picks. I believe the record shows he has. Of the Eagles' 12 drafts under Reid, I would rate one as great, four as very good, three as good, one as fair, two as poor and one as horrible.

For years, the Eagles had a reputation for selecting too many offensive linemen early in the draft. The problem was it wasn't true. Only once in his dozen years drafting has Reid selected an offensive lineman in the first round - Shawn Andrews, 2004. And the Eagles haven't addressed that position earlier than the fourth round since they took Winston Justice in the second round of the 2006 draft. Reid and company prefer to load up on linemen lower in the draft or via undrafted free agency in the hopes of finding a few gems they can develop.

While the Eagles were able to lock up the centerpiece of their team and tender four other players on Wednesday - at least for the time being - their longest-tenured player remained unsigned with less than a day until the NFL's collective bargaining agreement expires. On the day on which quarterback Michael Vick accepted a franchise tender and inked a one-year contract, David Akers' agent said that the kicker would not sign the Eagles' transition tender. The team placed tags on both players on Feb. 15. Akers' decision to not sign didn't come as a surprise.

Even as the NFL inched closer to a labor shutdown that could threaten the 2011 season, the Eagles were taking care of business yesterday. The team announced that quarterback Michael Vick has signed his exclusive franchise tender, which guarantees Vick at least $16 million this season, if there is a season. The Eagles also tendered some prospective restricted free agents, linebacker Stewart Bradley (second-round level), guard Max Jean-Gilles (fourth-round level), and cornerback Dimitri Patterson (no compensation owed)

By his own admission, Mike McGlynn was a work in progress this season. The same could be said for the entire Eagles offensive line. Right to the bitter end, when King Dunlap replaced Winston Justice at right tackle in the second half of Sunday's 21-16 wild-card playoff loss to Green Bay, the Eagles' offensive line was unsettled and unsteady. One constant in the lineup was McGlynn, a third-year player who took over the starting center position from the injured Jamal Jackson in Week 2. But McGlynn's situation underscored the shaky state of the offensive line as the former University of Pittsburgh athlete was playing center for the first time in his career and was forced to learn on the fly. "You can't replace experience," McGlynn said.

Trent Cole's locker tells you all you need to know about his plan for Sunday. Taped inside is a photo of Aaron Rodgers, crudely cut, with a rifle scope's target drawn over the quarterback in black marker. "I've seen previous games where he's gotten disrupted when people start hitting. He's been through a couple concussions and all that stuff, and, like I said, we've got to get on him early and get on him fast and I think it's going to create problems for him," Cole said Friday.

Stewart Bradley looks unlikely to play against the Packers on Sunday after all. It would be a "stretch" for the middle linebacker to be ready for the playoff opener, head coach Andy Reid said Monday, contradicting Bradley's self-assessment after the game against the Cowboys. "If he had to play today he wouldn't be able to play," Reid said. Bradley dislocated his left elbow Dec. 12 against the Cowboys and has not played since. "He hasn't been able to do anything where he applies pressure," to his injured elbow, Reid said.

Stewart Bradley said he was confident he could play in Sunday's playoff game against the Packers, but the Eagles middle linebacker has a few more steps to clear before he can return from an elbow injury. "I have trust in the team's training staff," Bradley said Sunday. "If they give me the OK and say it's good, then I'm ready to go. " When asked about Bradley, coach Andy Reid said there was "a chance" he could play against Green Bay. "We just need to see how he does over the next couple of days," Reid said.

THE EAGLES' offensive line seems to have really made some strides lately. We're about to find out how much that means. Eagles coaches and players said over and over again this week that the Birds will face the best defensive line they've seen when the New York Giants visit tomorrow night, with first place in the NFC East on the line. Early in the season, a top d-line vs. the Birds' blockers would have been a grisly mismatch. Now, maybe not so much. "I think we're progressing toward [being solid]