Quintin Demps

Fourteen years ago, a rookie free safety broke into the Eagles' starting lineup a week after the season opener in Washington. Brian Dawkins replaced Eric Zomalt and for the next dozen years he was the Eagles' only opening-day starter at the position. Now, shockingly, another rookie has emerged as Dawkins' replacement. When the Eagles returned to practice yesterday to start preparations for Sunday's season opener against the Carolina Panthers, Victor "Macho" Harris lined up with the first-team defense.

Defensive struggles: A defense that had given up just 65 points in its last six games and hadn't allowed a touchdown pass in five games, gave up 24 first-half points and couldn't prevent a game-winning, 14-play scoring drive at the end. The kicker: Usually reliable David Akers missed a point-after and a 47-yard field-goal attempt and sent a kickoff out of bounds. Another missed comeback opportunity for McNabb: The Eagles quarterback brought his team back from a 24-6 halftime deficit, but couldn't engineer a game-winning drive at the end. Tough day for Quintin Demps: The rookie safety, who got his most reps of the season, got beat for a 62-yard touchdown by Larry Fitzgerald, and later was flagged for a late hit on Kurt Warner.

Rushing offense Brian Westbrook notched only his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season. Kyle Eckel got a standing ovation from the crowd when he converted the Eagles' first third-and-one opportunity. GRADE: A Passing offense Four days after getting benched, Donovan McNabb boun ced back in a big way, completing 69.2 percent of his passes and throwing for a season-high 4 touchdowns. And oh yeah. No interceptions. GRADE: A-PLUS Run defense The Eagles tackled Tim Hightower for losses on his first 2 runs.

The Eagles signed tight end Garrett Mills, safety Chip Vaughn, and wide receiver Jeremy Williams on Monday, giving them the maximum of eight players on their practice squad. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Mills was fourth-round pick by New England in 2006. He spent the last three seasons in Minnesota. He had seven catches for 91 yards in nine career games and spent a season on the practice squad. The addition of Mills means the Eagles probably have closed the book on Cornelius Ingram.

Records: Eagles 1-2; Jets 1-2 When: Tonight, 7 o'clock Where: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J. TV: 6ABC, with Kevin Reilly, Herm Edwards, Hugh Douglas and Dave Spadaro Radio: WYSP (94.1-FM), WIP (610-AM), with Merrill Reese, Mike Quick and Howard Eskin Preseason history: The Jets lead the preseason series, 18-10. Next for Eagles: Regular-season opener at Carolina on Sept. 13 3 THINGS TO WATCH 1. Michael Vick: He's likely to play considerably more this week, and in a more conventional quarterback role, giving fans (and coaches)

Andy Reid said he still thinks the Eagles can win the Super Bowl, even without Brian Dawkins. "You can take the team we have today and go compete for a championship in the National Football League," the Eagles' coach said. "Now, you may have to move some people around to do some things there, and we have to get a little bit more depth at some positions, but with the people we have here, we know we can compete for a championship. " Reid's comments came during a discussion with an Eagles employee and were posted on the team's Web site yesterday.

UP NEXT   Who: New Orleans at Eagles When: 1 p.m. Sunday Where: Lincoln Financial Field TV: Fox Radio: WYSP (94.1-FM), WIP (610-AM) Series history: Eagles lead, 16-10 (8-2 in Philadelphia) Last meeting: Eagles won, 38-23, on Dec. 23, 2007, in New Orleans   INJURY REPORT   -- Donovan McNabb, cracked rib. Injured after he scored a third-quarter touchdown on what appeared to be a late hit. Andy Reid would not rule out McNabb being available for next Sunday's game.

POSITION: Backup quarterback HEIGHT, WEIGHT: 6-3, 218 AGE: 24. BIRTHDATE: Aug. 24, 1984. HOMETOWN: Victoria, Texas COLLEGE: Houston YEARS PRO: 2 HOW ACQUIRED: Drafted by the Eagles in the second round (36th overall) in 2007. THIS YEAR: Has appeared in five games in relief of Donovan McNabb, with four interceptions in 34 attempts. NEXT YEAR: That's going to be the big question this offseason, isn't it? EARLY EXPOSURE: As a 5-year-old, Kevin would hang around the middle-school team coached by his father, Roy. "I was always in the locker room," Kolb said.

It's still Jim Johnson's defense. That was the message sent by Eagles coach Andy Reid at the NFL owners' meetings five weeks ago and confirmed by Johnson at this weekend's post-draft camp. Johnson, the only defensive coordinator to ever work for Reid, is simultaneously fighting the melanoma skin cancer that has attacked his back and devising plans for the 2009 Eagles defense. One of those plans is to replace the legendary Brian Dawkins with Quintin Demps at free safety, a somewhat surprising decision given that the Eagles signed free agent Sean Jones, an experienced starter at safety with the Cleveland Browns.

In 13 years Andy Reid has drafted eight cornerbacks. Only eight?!? For a coach who has increasingly stressed the importance of improving his pass defense, Reid's investment at the position in the draft comes as a bit of a shock. There are obvious reasons for the modest attention. A strong draft in 2002 in which the Eagles expended two of their top three picks at cornerback and found a pair of starters in Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown didn't make selecting cornerbacks en masse a necessity.

The Eagles are deep at cornerback, need to upgrade at linebacker and should get younger on the defensive line. But what about at safety, where the directive is much less clear? For that answer look to Nate Allen. The Eagles, before they launch their plans at the position, must gauge their confidence in the third-year safety for next season. Do they believe in the Allen that aggressively made tackles all over the field at Buffalo and finished last season on the upswing?

In the last 10 NFL seasons, including the one that began this week, Eagles returners have taken exactly one kickoff back for a touchdown. Even devoted fans can be forgiven for not remembering that one. It took place on Nov. 23, 2008, when rookie Quintin Demps returned a kickoff 100 yards in Baltimore against the Ravens. That game, in which Demps' touchdown was the only Eagles score, is better known as the game in which Donovan McNabb was benched at halftime in favor of Kevin Kolb, the first loose thread in the complete unraveling of the quarterback position.

It is a risky business, this discarding of players before their expiration dates hit. The Eagles pride themselves in being ahead of the curve in evaluating the endgame of a player's usefulness. Many times, they have been right. But when they have been wrong, boy, have they been wrong. Andy Reid this time is banking on being right when it comes to the placekicker position. By selecting Nebraska's Alex Henery in the fourth round on Saturday, Reid essentially signaled the end of David Akers' 12-year career here.

In the last eight drafts, the Eagles have selected in their designated spot in the first round only twice, most recently in 2006. Here is a rundown of their deals involving first-round picks: 2003: The pick: 30th: What happened: Traded to San Diego to move up 15 slots to select Miami defensive end Jerome McDougle at No. 15 in exchange for a first (cornerback Sammy Davis) and a second (free safety Terrence Kiel). 2004: The pick: 28th: What happened: Traded to San Francisco to move up 12 spots to select Arkansas guard/tackle Shawn Andrews at No. 16 in exchange for a first and a second.

YES, IT'S EARLY. Two games isn't much time to come to a conclusion about anything - well, except for switching quarterbacks. But I digress. Sure, some mistakes have been made, but, for the most part, the first two games of Nate Allen's career as the Eagles' starting free safety couldn't have gone much better. As one of the Eagles to be watched closely this season, Allen already has given us some positives. He intercepted a pass from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the season opener and got another pick off Detroit quarterback Shaun Hill Sunday.

Brandon Graham was running down a screen (didn't Tom Petty sing about that?) when he landed funny, hitting the ground just under his shoulder and above the back of his ribcage. "It spasmed all my muscles up here," he said, pointing to his upper back and shoulder. Until that moment, in the second half of the Eagles' 35-32 victory at Detroit, it had been a great homecoming for Graham, the Eagles' first-round rookie defensive end. He had notched his first NFL sack early in the game, with friends and family watching.

If the tale of the 2009 Eagles defensive backs was to be staged, it would most resemble a Tennessee Williams production. It was a dysfunctional family full of sorrow, strife, and scandal that was ultimately destined to fail. A year later, those troubles seem as old as Shakespeare. There's a new cast and new attitudes from leftover characters and a general air of confidence coming from a unit that had its 2009 run ended abruptly by the hated Cowboys. The first act of this new production begins Sunday, when Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his bevy of receivers unleash their aerial assault at Lincoln Financial Field.

We look at the Eagles and see more question marks than usual. Opposing coaches look and see giant bull's-eyes. Because of that, the early returns on Kevin Kolb, the offensive line, Nate Allen, Ernie Sims, and a bunch of other issues may be a little misleading. Even if Andy Reid and Co. are mostly right, it may take some time for that to be evident. If they're wrong, we'll probably know sooner. Because so much has been said and speculated about Kolb, let's start with Allen, the rookie safety who is expected to fill the hole vacated by Brian Dawkins.

THIRD IN POINTS. Sixth in yardage. Maybe the best young quarterback in the game. Just where the Eagles' defense stands will be better gauged come Sunday evening, after it faces a Packers offense that clicked beautifully for Aaron Rodgers last season. "This will be a great measuring stick," said Pro Bowl end Trent Cole. "It'll let us see just where we are as a defense. " The preseason would indicate that the Eagles' defense will be a strength. But that's just preseason.