Offseason

A year ago at this time, Donovan McNabb was a befuddled NFL freshman trying to make some kind of sense, any kind of sense, out of coach Andy Reid's complicated West Coast offense. "Last year, we were all struggling to learn the offense," the Eagles quarterback said. "Any time you don't know exactly what to do in the offense, you can't let your athletic ability take its course. Once you have a clue, then you can let your athletic ability take over. " It still will be a little while before McNabb is completely fluent in the West Coast offense.

The New York Giants had 2 days of their offseason program taken away for violating the NFL's collective-bargaining agreement under new coach Tom Coughlin. After receiving several recent complaints from players, Harold Henderson, the league's executive vice president for labor relations, and NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw determined yesterday that the Giants violated rules on the length of workouts and the scheduling of classroom sessions in the offseason. Players are allowed to be at locations for weight training and meetings a total of 4 hours on offseason workout days.

News of the Eagles' since-faded interest in trading for Luis Sharpe, the Phoenix Cardinals' starting left tackle, never reached Ron Heller's offseason home in Tampa. Neither did the predraft and postdraft reports indicating that a veteran starting left offensive tackle remains a priority on the Eagles' offseason shopping list. It is the kind of news that can be unsettling when you already are the veteran starting left offensive tackle for the Eagles. "I haven't heard any of that stuff and it's probably good I didn't," Heller said.

The Flyers are not the only team in the Atlantic Division to undergo changes in the offseason. New York Rangers: Added centers Chris Drury (Buffalo) and Scott Gomez (New Jersey) to an offense that already had Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan. Lost Michael Nylander to Washington and traded Matt Cullen to Carolina. Pittsburgh: The Penguins did not have many moves to make since they are loaded, with league MVP Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal on offense, Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar on defense and Marc-Andre Fleury in net. The biggest moves were signing Crosby to a 5-year, $43 million extension and the additions of Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor.

THE WORST YEAR of professional football in any of our lifetimes is almost upon us. If the court decisions don't go the right way, and maybe even if they do, an entire NFL offseason will be in jeopardy. That has never happened before. Yes, there have been major work stoppages in the history of the league. The players went on strike in 1982 and 1987, but each time the players went to training camp and collected two regular-season paychecks before walking out. The 1982 strike eventually truncated the season to nine games.

1. The Los Angeles Angels already had an unbelievable lineup, which included rising star Mike Trout, from Millville, N.J., and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. Now, they have a lineup for the ages with the addition of Josh Hamilton, the prized possession of the offseason. After a disappointing 2012 that included missing a playoff spot, you can bet the Angels are ready to go big. 2. No matter what happens, the New York Yankees will always be the center of attention in baseball.

Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the Eagles entering the offseason is whether Nick Foles can be a starting quarterback. Team owner Jeffrey Lurie said former coach Andy Reid was high on Foles, but the next head coach must determine whether Foles will start. "Nick has every opportunity, and everyone in the building thinks the world of him in terms of his promise and potential," Lurie said. "This is going to be a decision made by the new head coach, not by the owner. " Foles did not want to reveal where he'll work out during the offseason, but said he will be close to family and will return to Philadelphia for the offseason program.

Linebacker Jamar Chaney said he would be ready to practice in April even after having offseason surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck, according to the Eagles' website. He said the surgery would help him from suffering the same injury again. "It's coming along pretty good now," Chaney told PhiladelphiaEagles.com "By the end of this month, maybe next month, I should be back to myself 100 percent. I feel pretty good now, working out, squatting, bench pressing, doing the normal stuff I would be doing in the offseason.

Dennis Martinez will not pitch again this season because his injured elbow is not getting better. The Cleveland Indians righthander lasted only a few pitches in his last workout Thursday and had to stop when the elbow acted up. He told manager Mike Hargrove yesterday he is done for the year. "I thank the fans for everything that's happened since I've been here," Martinez said. "It didn't end up the way I wanted it. " But Martinez, 41, is on the disabled list for the third time this season after pitching since 1986 without being disabled.

On a day the Eagles finally welcomed one All-Pro lineman back into the fold, another missing Pro Bowler moved a huge step closer to playing this Saturday. For the first time since undergoing offseason surgery on both knees, guard Ron Solt participated in yesterday's crunching, nine-on-seven run drills at training camp. His appearance in the drills made it very possible that he will see action in Saturday night's exhibition against Pittsburgh at Veterans Stadium. "He went live one-on-one over there," said Eagles coach Buddy Ryan, who had emphasized that Solt wouldn't play until able to go through the nine-on- seven day after day. "He looked good to me. I'll have to see how he feels tomorrow.