Stewart Bradley

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Vick's health.   Quarterback Mike Vick was knocked out of the game late in the first quarter with a chest injury. Kevin Kolb replaced him and played the rest of the game. Vick's status for Sunday's game against the 49ers is up in the air.   Where were the hotshot wideouts?   DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, who combined for six touchdown catches in the first three games, were invisible yesterday. They combined for four catches for 34 yards and no TDs.   Can the Eagles win with this offensive line?

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)

EAGLES DEFENSIVE coordinator Juan Castillo, when asked Thursday what he has found you can tell about your team from a season opener, stepped around the question and replied that the idea is to get better every week. So, logically, Sunday's game at Cleveland is going to be the Eagles' worst of the season, they hope, right? Locker-room philosopher Evan Mathis said the way to look at that conundrum is, "You want to have a great opener. If you can have a great opener and get better every week, you're doing things.

BETHLEHEM – It was one of the worst moments of Rick Burkholder's career. Second quarter of the Eagles' 2010 season opener at the Linc against the Green Bay Packers. Quarterback Kevin Kolb got hit by Packers linebacker Clay Matthews and suffered a concussion that would end up changing the careers of both Kolb and his backup, Michael Vick. Six plays later, while Burkholder, the Eagles' trainer, was tending to Kolb, linebacker Stewart Bradley banged his head on the leg of teammate Ernie Sims.

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.

Asante Samuel waved his arms, urging on the cheers, and Eagles fans responded. An entire section rose and roared as the Eagles put the finishing touches on a win. The problem was, the green-clad fans were sitting in orange seats under the sunny Miami sky, not the early-winter gray of Philadelphia. Eagles fans have had little to cheer at Lincoln Financial Field this season, where the home team is 1-5 and will try to break a three-game Philly losing streak Sunday against the Jets.