The Eagles agreed to terms with eight practice squad players,  including rookie fifth-round pick Ed Reynolds.

The others are Josh Andrews, Kevin Graf, Wade Keliikipi,  Emmanuel Acho, Will Murphy, Quron Pratt and Matthew Tucker.

(Below, getting ready for some football at original Starbucks in Seattle...Photo by Jack McCaffery) 

The Eagles made it official.

Alex Henry

Rookie kicker Cody Parkey is on the 53-man roster, pushing veteran Alex Henery off the board after three seasons.

Here are the cuts and moves:

Waived:

LB Emmanuel Acho

OL Josh Andrews

RB Kenjon Barner (waived/injured)

CB Roc Carmichael

T Kevin Graf

K Alex Henery

WR Damaris Johnson

S Keelan Johnson

RB Henry Josey

LB Josh Kaddu

DT Wade Keliikipi

QB G.J. Kinne

CB Curtis Marsh

WR Ifeanyi Momah

WR Will Murphy

WR Quron Pratt

S Ed Reynolds

DT Damion Square

RB Matthew Tucker

Cody Parkey

Injured Reserve:

WR Arrelious Benn (lower back)

LB Travis Long (ACL tear in left knee)

X- T Lane Johnson will begin his four-game suspension and does not count on the 53-man roster.

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You know you've arrived when the bookies have turned you into a side bet.

Looks like the nephews are messing with the Foles pics again.

So it is for Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. Last year he threw just 2 interceptions in addition to 27 touchdown passes.

According to Bovada (www.Bovada.lv, @BovadaLV), the over-under on Foles' interceptions in the 2014 regular season is 9 1-2. Bet 9 or less and you win the under. Ten or more gets you the over.

And oh, by the way, the over-under for DeSean Jackson touchdowns with Washington this year is, appropriately enough, 6.

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Eagles rookie kicker Cody Parkey was an extra in a historic game last year.

It was Auburn, ranked No. 4, hosting top-ranked Alabama. The game was tied with 1 second left when 'Bama's Adam Griffith lined up a 57-yard field goal attempt that would have defeated the Tigers and Parkey.

"I was warming up and getting ready to go to overtime," Parkey said. "Their kicker had missed three or four (field goal attempts) and I was like, 'he might miss again and in overtime I’m going to have to hit a game-winner.' As an Auburn kicker that’s the biggest compliment you can get is hitting a game-winner against Alabama."

Parkey barely had taken a couple of cuts when teammate Chris Davis came barreling up the Auburn sideline.

The attempt fell a yard short and into the hands of Davis, who galloped 109 yards for a score against the field goal protection team of the Crimson Tide.

"I saw him miss it and I was like, '(Davis is) going to get tackled,'" Parkey said. "And he just runs right past me. Everybody asks, how was that game? It was crazy. It was nuts."

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The Eagles released center Julian Vandervelde Tuesday with an injury settlement.

Julian Vandervelde.

The organization decided to go in another direction from the Iowa product who is rehabbing from back surgery.

Vandervelde is a class act. No Eagle has been more resilient since the day he arrived as a fifth round pick in 2011.

Upon his release Vandervelde ripped off a series of tweets:


"I want to thank the ownership, management, and coaches of The Philadelphia Eagles for believing in me and giving me a chance to play ball.
 
"My focus now is on rehab and how I can better myself for the road ahead. Whatever the future holds, Philadelphia will always be in my heart.

"God has given me this tremendous experience and opportunity for which I will be forever grateful. I love my brothers and will miss them.

#FlyEaglesFly

Julian VanderveldeVerified account‏@BatMandervelde

Pat Shurmur takes on another weak question.

Anyone else tired of hearing about the so-called tough roster decisions the Eagles have to make at running back?

Beyond defending NFL rushing champion LeSean McCoy and explosive third down back Darren Sproles, you could pick the other one or two backs out of a hat ... no disrespect to Chris Polk, Matthew Tucker, Henry Josey.

Chip Kelly's offensive system is so running back friendly that wide receiver Damaris Johnson looked comfortable in the backfield against the Patriots.

"We're going to keep the best guys no matter how many we keep," Shurmur said. "We could keep three, four or five guys. We could keep as many as we want. There's no rules, really. That's a good group. We've seen production out of all those guys. You don't necessarily keep a big one, a little one and a medium sized guy. You try to keep a running back that's going to fit and do the things that we do whether it's the first, the second or the third."

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Le'Veon Bell might not play when the #Steelers oppose the Eagles tonight at Lincoln Financial Field.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2014/08/20/Steelers-running-backs-Bell-Blount-arrested-for-pot/stories/201408200179

LeSean McCoy returned to practice Monday after sitting out the previous session with a mild case of turf toe.

McCoy said X-rays and MRIs of the left big toe were negative and his playing time would depend on his pain threshold.

“I feel like if I hurt it too much I’ll shut it down,” McCoy said. “But I warmed today and it felt good. I could feel it still but I could push through it. In this league you have to learn how to play with pain.”

The toe became an issue during practice last week with the Patriots. McCoy made a cameo in the preseason game against the Patriots Friday night.

“It was really bothering me,” McCoy said. “During the game it kind of was real, real sore … and a couple days before that. I was trying to play through that. Yesterday it really was hurting pretty bad. It’s fine. I felt a little bit better today so I went for it.  And I actually pushed through practice. I don’t know what I did as far as my reps and my workload today. But I was kind of getting into it. I started warming up. And I need to work anyway so I just pushed through practice.”

Among key players, wide receivers Jeremy Maclin (knee, hamstring) and Riley Cooper (foot) participated in the open phase of practice but were limited in team reps.

Running back Chris Polk (hamstring) did not practice. He hasn’t worked since the beginning of camp.

Polk’s absence has opened the door for undrafted rookie Henry Josey, who had eight rushes for 56 yards and caught a 27-yard scoring pass from Matt Barkley in the 42-35 preseason loss to the New England Patriots.

“Henry got more than his share of reps,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “And he made the most of it.”

Wide receiver Damaris Johnson also benefitted from Polk’s absence as he also played running back in the second preseason game.

“Damaris, heck he played three different positions for us,” Shurmur said. “That’s a huge thing for a guy.”

Johnson caught three passes, including a five-yard touchdown from Mark Sanchez and had seven rushes for 14 yards. Johnson also averaged 6.3 yards on three punt returns and returned a kickoff 27 yards.

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LeSean McCoy likes to kid around.

But he takes his job seriously.

I'm guessing McCoy will figure out there has to be a better way of pitching a household product than to mock the NFL's performance enhancing substance program.

Here it is:

Poking fun at the program basically insults Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL Players Association, who helped craft it for the safety of players.

The press conference thing and the breaking news angle are interesting. The content insults the NFL, the union and their attempts to deal with a serious issue. And it sets a poor example for youth.

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The Eagles are practicing today at Franklin Field, where they played home football games from 1958-74.

While admission is by ticket only, with a little luck you might be able to score some of the free passes from people who don't want to battle the crowd. Luck is the operative word.

LeSean McCoy reaches out to fans.

Franklin Field.

The VIP guest list today includes Eagles great Chuck Bednarik, who played on the 1960 championship team here.


Among the sights and sounds:






Marcus Smith and Mark Sanchez sign autographs.


Among other Eagles greats, Pete Retzlaff, Chuck Bednarik.


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They said it couldn't be done.

But after O.J. Simpson broke the 2,000-yard rushing barrier in barely 14 games in 1973, seven others have done it, most recently Adrian Peterson in 2012.
 
Eagles running back LeSean McCoy clearly wants to be No. 8 judging by the tweet he sent on his certified Twitter account.

@CutonDime25: This is THE YEAR!!!! My potential is #2000yards. Will Will it? Stepping up my training and signs point to yes.

Eagles teammate Darren Sproles has McCoy's back. He says McCoy has the strength and the elusive running style to meet the challenge.

Here's the NFL's 2,000 rushing yard club:

1973 O.J. Simpson (Bills) 2,003

1984 Eric Dickerson (LA Rams) 2,105

1997 Barry Sanders (Lions) 2,053

1998 Terrell Davis (Broncos) 2,008

2003 Jamal Lewis (Ravens) 2,066

2009 Chris Johnson (Titans) 2,006

2012 Adrian Peterson (Vikings) 2,097

2014 LeSean McCoy (Eagles) 2,???

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Cary Williams can think of a million things he'd rather do than practice next week with the New England Patriots. He sees no benefit in doing so, unlike Eagles coach Chip Kelly.

Williams respects his head coach. He just doesn't feel the same way about the Patriots having put up with their arrogance and rules-stretching antics during a tour with the Baltimore Ravens.

If the Patriots even think about messing with Williams next week they're asking for trouble,. 

"I don’t care about whether they come after me or not,” Williams said. “That doesn’t scare me. My mentality has never been a punk, never been a guy that’s going to be a scared guy. I don’t play this game in fear … at all. I fear no man. As far as I’m concerned, hey, you put your pants on as well as I put my pants on. So we’re going to man-up when we get there.”

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With a small handful of wide receivers slowed by injuries, Eagles second-round pick Jordan Matthews has stepped to the forefront at training camp.

No pass catcher has shown more improvement here than the 6-3, 209-pound product of Vanderbilt who set SEC receiving record after SEC receiving record.  

"I like his size, his hands and the way he finishes," Eagles great Mike Quick, one of the top receivers in franchise history said. "He works like he’s the last one on the list. And I like that."

Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur echoed Quick.

"Every little kind of hurdle we’ve given him as he prepares himself for the season he’s done a great job of jumping over," Shurmur said. "And he just continues to get better and better every day. Just like all our players, we have high expectations for him."

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The way Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis sees it, no outside linebacker rushed the passer any better than Kevin Greene.

Greene led the league in sacks in two different seasons and with 160 quarterback drops, trails only Bruce Smith and the late Reggie White on the all-time NFL list.

With Davis' blessing, Greene was brought in Sunday to tutor the Birds pass rushers including rookie Marcus Smith.

"Athletic as all get-out, no doubt," Green said. "He brings a lot of skills, a big skills set to the table. I'm whispering sweet nothings in his ear every chance I can.

"It feels good to be part of Philadelphia for a couple days and try to impart some wisdom on these green kids."

Billy Davis.

Greene is buds with Davis, who coached him during his 15-year playing career.

"He shouldn't even be here this week," Davis said. "He should be getting a gold jacket. The guy's got 160 career sacks, and I know I'm prejudiced, but I really do believe it's time for him to be in the Hall of Fame."

The Hall of Fame induction ceremonies were held Saturday. Greene is staying through Tuesday.

"His knowledge of really the simplicity of the pass rush and what he's bringing here," Davis began. "To help us to pick his brain on how he did it, the players are grabbing him on how he did it. He he had a very basic fundamental way of rushing the passer that he's bringing to our guys."

Greene spent considerable time talking to linebacker Marcus Smith II, the Eagles' top overall pick in the spring draft.

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