Stewart Bradley

They were just little kids, so given the four years between them, it was a fair contest. The game between brothers was to see who could wash their hair and body, and then rinse and turn off the shower water the fastest. Thomas Bradley would lean against the closed bathroom door and click a stopwatch as soon as his big brother, Stewart, turned the water on, and then clicked again as soon as he turned the water off. "He had the record," Thomas said. "It was, like, 42 seconds. " Stewart Bradley is, and always has been, hyper-competitive.

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.

Stewart Bradley had no clue. Maybe he was stuck in that late-season rookie haze in which the mind and body tend to give out in exhaustion. Maybe he was naive. Maybe he just didn't want to believe. But when defensive coordinator Jim Johnson shuffled his linebackers late last season after Takeo Spikes' season ended with an injury, it became obvious that the rookie from Nebraska had just become the Eagles' middle linebacker of the future. At least it was obvious to everyone but Bradley.

To Patrick Moeller and his family, flying the colors at Eagles away games is a sworn obligation. With or without game tickets, to tailgate on the enemy's asphalt is worth ducking the occasional bottle chucked by a hostile homer. In four years, Moeller has piloted Eagle One, his 38-foot RV decorated with flashing green lights, team decals, and a rocking sound system, to virtually every game in the Birds' regular seasons. The Moorestown resident has logged 22,000 miles - and paid $5,000 for gas - this season alone, often making the trips with his wife, Monica, and their four children, ages 6, 12, 14 and 16. "It's really fun when we first get there and we turn on the lights and play the music," said Moeller, 46. The Rocky theme blares after victories.

Now we know why the Eagles weren't casting lines to Stephen Tulloch or Curtis Lofton. They were fishing for a bigger score. And they pulled him in Tuesday night - Pro Bowl linebacker DeMeco Ryans - and on first impression the Eagles looked like they bagged a big one. All they had to give up was a fourth-round draft pick and a swap of third-round picks with the Houston Texans to get the 6-foot-1, 250-pound Ryans. On the surface, the acquisition plugs what were gaping holes on the Eagles defense last year.

Les Bowen The Eagles have never beaten the Jaguars (0-3), but they haven't played since 2006, so that isn't likely to make much difference. Andy Reid is 2-8 against the AFC South, though, which is a more interesting stat. The Birds are 25th in total defense, but Jacksonville is 29th, and the Eagles are getting Stewart Bradley back. Jacksonville benched quarterback David Garrard last week, but will trot him out again this week because replacement Luke McCown suffered a season-ending knee injury.

The Eagles are a week away from opening their preseason slate at home against New England, but it's already been quite an eventful training camp. Here's a look: Sunday, July 26: Rookies and select veterans reported. The only player failing to show up was first-round pick Jeremy Maclin, who was holding out because of a contract dispute. Monday, July 27: One veteran, injured franchise running back Brian Westbrook, worked out with trainer Rick Burkholder. Tuesday, July 28: Longtime defensive coordinator Jim Johnson died of cancer at age 68. Wednesday, July 29: The remaining veterans reported, including disgruntled cornerback Sheldon Brown.

How many games will the Eagles win this season? 10: 28.7% 11: 23.6% 9: 17.6% 12: 10.9% 8: 6.4% 13 or more: 5.3% Less than 7: 4.2% 7: 3.2% -------- What was the most significant development? Stewart Bradley's season-ending knee injury: 20.7% Sean McDermott succeeding Jim Johnson: 19.4% Drafting Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy: 16.6% Signing Michael Vick: 17.3% Brian Dawkins' departure: 14.1% Trading for Jason Peters: 5.0% Signing Leonard Weaver: 3.0% Other (below)

What we're talking about following the Eagles' 38-3 victory over St. Louis: --Improving their red-zone offense was high on the Eagles' to-do list heading into this season. Against the Rams, they converted three of four red-zone trips into touchdowns before Andy Reid rested most of his regulars in the fourth quarter. --Middle linebacker Stewart Bradley turned in an impressive performance in just his second NFL start. He had nine tackles, including two for losses, and also had one of the Eagles' four sacks of Marc Bulger.

I'm taking the Eagles, pretty much on faith here. That, and I like the possibility of Ernie Sims breaking his 29-game personal loss streak against the team he played for in 28 of those games. Don't really know what a full game of Michael Vick will look like. Don't really know if the defense can stop even Lions backup QB Shaun Hill, without middle linebacker Stewart Bradley. Don't know how much better the Lions are from the 2-14 team of last season or the 0-16 team the year before. The Eagles will tell you the Lions are much improved.

Who says the Eagles don't care about linebacker? For the second time this offseason the Eagles made a major move to improve their linebacker corps, a perennial weak spot that has been as much a part of the Andy Reid experience as screen passes, fastball linemen, and "time's yours. " After landing DeMeco Ryans in a stunning trade, investing in a veteran middle linebacker with a significant contract to fill a significant need, the Eagles on Friday used their second pick in the draft, number 46 overall, to bring in Mychal Kendricks, a 5-foot-11 speedster from Cal. It's the earliest the team has drafted a linebacker since Reid's first draft, when he took Barry Gardner with his second-ever Eagles pick, 35th overall.

Omar Gaither, Stewart Bradley, Joe Mays, Akeem Jordan, Chris Gocong, Will Witherspoon, Jamar Chaney, Casey Matthews, Jeremiah Trotter 3.0 . . . DeMeco Ryans? Have the Eagles finally found, after five seasons of impostors, their savior at middle linebacker? After the Eagles bagged Ryans in a trade with the Houston Texans on Tuesday, reaction from the team's fans has been overwhelmingly positive. Much of the excitement has to do with Ryans, of course. But underneath it all has been the blue-collar city's desperation for a savior at the most blue-collar of positions.

Now we know why the Eagles weren't casting lines to Stephen Tulloch or Curtis Lofton. They were fishing for a bigger score. And they pulled him in Tuesday night - Pro Bowl linebacker DeMeco Ryans - and on first impression the Eagles looked like they bagged a big one. All they had to give up was a fourth-round draft pick and a swap of third-round picks with the Houston Texans to get the 6-foot-1, 250-pound Ryans. On the surface, the acquisition plugs what were gaping holes on the Eagles defense last year.

When Jeffrey Lurie delivered his Eagles state-of-disarray address, most of the focus was on his decision to give coach Andy Reid another season despite his "unacceptable" 2011 campaign. And rightly so. With the team's decision-makers mostly gathered in Mobile, Ala., for Senior Bowl workouts, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on another of Lurie's comments: his reply to a question about the team's recent drafts, especially on defense. "I think the analysis is complicated," Lurie said.

When Jeffrey Lurie delivered his Eagles state-of-disarray address, most of the focus was on his decision to give coach Andy Reid another season despite his "unacceptable" 2011 campaign. And rightly so. With the team's decision-makers mostly gathered in Mobile, Ala., for Senior Bowl workouts, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on another of Lurie's comments: his reply to a question about the team's recent drafts, especially on defense. "I think the analysis is complicated," Lurie said.

Michael Vick stood Monday where Donovan McNabb stood after so many Eagles seasons ended in so many shades of disappointment. Well, technically, Vick stood one locker to the right of McNabb's old corner space. But it was hard, as Vick talked about channeling this year's lessons into hard work toward next season, not to think back to all those seasons McNabb and Andy Reid worked together. One year really sticks out, and its lessons should be paramount for Reid, assuming he remains in charge of tweaking this team for a 14th attempt to win the Super Bowl.

Now that Andy Reid has given us a preview of his sales pitch, the only question left is whether Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie will buy it on Jan. 2. That is the day after the Eagles' season ends, the day Reid usually unveils his rationalizations and, not incidentally, the day Lurie presumably will begin reviewing his employees' performances in 2011. Whether he is looking at a record of 6-10, 7-9, or 8-8 won't matter as much as whether he accepts Reid's attempt to spin that record.

DANIEL Te'o-Nesheim might have been doomed here from the moment the Eagles selected him in the third round of the 2010 draft. The team hasn't really taken a third-rounder it ended up liking since Brian Westbrook in 2002. The litany of disappointment since then includes Billy McMullen (2003), Matt Ware (2004), Ryan Moats (2005), Tony Hunt (2007) and Bryan Smith (2008). Stewart Bradley (2007) was a decent player who quickly fell out of favor following a knee injury. Te'o-Nesheim was signed off the Eagles' practice squad yesterday by the Tampa Bay Bucs.

MORE THAN a few times Sunday, Eagles blockers seemed to let an Arizona Cardinal fly in free on Michael Vick, making no attempt to hinder his progress. "That's what you call 'hot throws,' " left tackle Jason Peters said afterward. "They were bringing more than we could block. We just need to look at the film and see what we need to correct on those. " One of those hot throws badly burned the Eagles. On the Birds' second snap, linebacker Daryl Washington stormed in untouched and blasted Vick helmet-first, making contact just underneath Vick's throwing arm, as the quarterback completed a 13-yard pass to tight end Brent Celek.

Here is a look at some of the best and worst in Sunday's Eagles-Cardinals game that deserve special mention and our award: the Inky. Inky for player of the game. Larry Fitzgerald showed what a superstar does, making tough catches even when the Eagles put multiple defenders on him, including a game-changing, lunging, 37-yard grab on third and 10 to set up the winning score. He was the difference. Inky for worst performance by a franchise quarterback.