Stewart Bradley

  BETHLEHEM, Pa. - When a fight breaks out at training camp - and it almost always does - Andy Reid likes to say, "We're not ultimate fighters, we're football players. " However, on a day with lots of hitting, live tackling, and, as a result, plenty of tussles, the Eagles looked like boxers. On the undercard were some heavyweight tilts. But the main attraction - Riley Cooper vs. Ellis Hobbs - was a battle of opposites. It was wide receiver vs. cornerback, rookie vs. veteran, big guy vs. small, and second-team offense vs. first-team defense.

Steve Saunders glanced at a sheet of paper and instructed Todd Herremans through his arms and shoulders workout. He checked on Trevor Laws, who was doing a crunch with a medicine ball, and then continued evaluating Jamar Chaney's muscle endurance. Jamaal Jackson walked in, looked around, and, spotting media in the gym for the second time in a week, cracked at Saunders: "Hey, man, I'm going to start working out down the street. " Jackson was only kidding. Saunders is a performance coach and the founder of Power Train Sports Institute, and his gym in Cherry Hill has become a refuge for several Eagles as well as other NFL players from the area.

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Eagles' concerns over hits on Michael Vick finally were addressed last night. Last play before the first-half 2-minute warning, Vick clobbered from the blindside by Anthony Spencer, pass flutters away incomplete. Flag, unnecessary roughness, first time all season. On replays, it seems Spencer made helmet-to-helmet contact, as did defensive end Igor Olshansky. Alas, two plays later, Vick would threw a long interception down the middle to Gerald Sensabaugh, making the call inconsequential.

  45 As in, passes attempted by Lions quarterback Shaun Hill. After being gashed by running back Jahvid Best in the first half, the Eagles scored some points and forced Hill to the air in the second half. And Hill could not quite get it done. He threw 21 passes in the fourth quarter alone but failed to come up with the winning points.   0-2 As in, the Lions stuffed the Bears on a big fourth-down play last week, and the Eagles stuffed the Lions twice on fourth downs Sunday in the fourth quarter.

Each week, Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch will tell you the things he will be keeping his eyes on during that week's game: 1. Slowing down the Panthers' ground game: The Panthers generally go as far as their power running game takes them, and it took them pretty far last season as RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combined for more than 2,300 rushing yards. The Eagles finished fourth in the league against the run last season, but are missing two fairly significant components from that unit - middle linebacker Stewart Bradley and free safety Brian Dawkins.

Oh yeah - the Eagles' defense only allowed three points. "We felt almost like a machine," weakside linebacker Omar Gaither said, after the Eagles' 38-3 win over the St. Louis Rams. "I'm trying to think of another way to put it but I think that's the most proper way to put it. Everything was in sync. " We all have been tugged in two directions by this defense, and especially by the linebackers (Gaither, Chris Gocong and Stewart Bradley). Because they have size and speed and smarts, yes, but they also are inexperienced.

From a post on Daily News columnist Rich Hofmann's blog, The Idle Rich. Look for new posts daily at go.philly.com/theidlerich. "NINE IN THE BOX," Stewart Bradley was saying, sitting there on the set of "Daily News Live. " He was talking about the Seahawks' occasional defensive strategy last Sunday. Seven defenders in the imaginary box that you can draw near the line of scrimmage is normal. Eight in the box signals a run-stopping strategy. Nine in the box is a big overload.

Each week, Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch will tell you the things he will be keeping his eyes on during that week's game. Here is how things panned out in yesterday's game: 1. Slowing down the Panthers' ground game: Last season, running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combined for more than 2,300 rushing yards. There was some concern coming into yesterday's game because the Eagles finished fourth in the league against the run last season, and are missing two fairly significant components from that unit - middle linebacker Stewart Bradley and free safety Brian Dawkins.

Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch tells you the things he will keep his eyes on during the Eagles-Lions game Sunday: 1. Effectiveness of those three- and four-wide receiver sets The three-wide receiver, one-running back, one-tight end set was the Eagles' formation of choice even before fullback Leonard Weaver went down with a season-ending knee injury. Now, it will be a way of life, particularly this week against a Lions secondary that is runway model-thin at cornerback. Detroit is going to have trouble matching up with the Eagles when they spread them out with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and Riley Cooper.

Michael Vick said he didn't really mean it the way a lot of people took it, that quote after Sunday's game about how the Eagles might have won if Vick had played all four quarters. "Absolutely not. I don't know how you can take that comment and try to make it seem that I'm trying to say that I'm a better quarterback than Kevin. It was about me having more time to bring us back and win the game," Vick said yesterday. Vick said he feels sorry for Kolb, who was not feeling well yesterday, Reid said, and was sent home.