Those were the words of Titans defensive line coach Jim Washburn

"He's a punch line of some jokes. In Philadelphia, he's a joke," Washburn said. "I still think he has some ability if he can stay healthy."

That article also noted what might have been a little bit of a shot at Kearse on the part of Jim Johnson...

"Yeah, I think it’s been a good offseason. If you get Asante and Chris Clemons, those are two playmakers," Johnson said. "I told our defense that we are on a three-game winning streak. We beat Dallas and New Orleans on the road and Buffalo here, and we didn’t really lose any players. We picked up some more players and had a good draft with what we wanted draft-wise, so you feel good and you feel positive."

Honestly, it's not as if JJ is lying. Kearse has more or less given the Eagles nothing the last two years. He was hurt most all of 2006 and was generally ineffective last year. By midseason the Phreak was actually not even making the active gameday roster....

But in his first few seasons here I didn't think Kearse was a huge let down. He certainly never posted the kind of sack numbers we all expected him to, but he did play an important part on the line especially in the superbowl year. That said, the excuses Jevon has been making since leaving Philly have been pretty laughable...

"I'm still the same player, but that scheme up in Philly was different. All I've got to say is proof is in the pudding, so I can't even talk about it. Just watch and see."

The scheme? He repeated this same excuse the day he re-signed in Tennessee... I'm not sure how a scheme predicated almost entirely on rushing the passer somehow hurt a pass rush specialst like Kearse, but if it makes him feel better to blame the scheme... so be it. The Titans don't seem to think it was all about the scheme, as it seems their plan is to use Kearse as a situational pass rusher.
 He may say he's "the same player" he was when he left, but the fact is that he's not. I like Jevon and always thought he was a good guy so I don't want to come off as bashing him here... but we have to be honest about where the guy is at this point in his career. Sorry Phreak...

It could be the Eagles says ESPN's Matt Mosley.. .

I realize the Jacksonville Jaguars would be the logical choice if you have them ranked behind the Colts in the AFC South, but let's go with something a little less obvious. The Eagles' season was doomed from the start last season because of the uncertainty of how starting quarterback Donovan McNabb would respond from ACL surgery and because of the family issues that plagued head coach Andy Reid.

But something funny happened over the last month of the season. The Eagles could have packed it in, but instead they started playing their best football. They should automatically be better on defense with the addition of All-Pro cornerback Asante Samuel. And the release of veteran Takeo Spikes will actually make them more athletic. Jeremiah Trotter's replacement, Omar Gaither, grew into his role as the season went on and I think he'll be a much more consistent player.

He goes on to talk about some more reasons why it could happen... It makes total sense, but then again it probably would make sense about several teams in the NFC. I'm just not convinced that anyone in the NFC is really head and shoulders above the pack.

The Saints look like they were primed for a real run and they fell flat last year. The Bears go the superbowl and fall flat. Those were the two teams in the NFC Title game in 06... I have no doubt that the same thing could happen again with a number of NFC teams that made the postseason in 07. Dallas has looked like it was on a upswing the past couple years, but then they can't win a playoff game and are getting old at certain positions. The Packers have a big bounce back year and then Favre retires. Anyone want to bet Aaron Rodgers will lead them to another 13-3 record? The Seahawks have hung around... but do they scare anyone? Would they have made the playoffs if they weren't in the NFC West? The Giants won it all, so you'd have to say they're the class of the conference... but they were no more than a wildcard last year and an 8-8 team the previous year. How many experts do anyone think will pick the Giants to repeat? Either as conference or SB champs?

Any of these teams could turn out to be better than I think... but that's the point. There are no Patriots or Colts in the NFC. There's a lot of mediocrity parity.

Some highlights

- Thinks Desean Jackson was the best WR in the draft "in terms of catching the football"

- He plays rookies when he thinks they're ready to play, thinks he has three this year that can play. It seems he counts Booker as one of those guys.

- They talk about Andy's snap at the media for only talking about the negative. Angelo askes if Andy understands why the media is negative, he blames it on the lack of a championship for 48 years(something he repeated several times). He also says the media and the city are seeing a decline in the team and that's making them negative. Reid responded by saying he doesn't see this and that Angelo is paid to stir up controversy. He jokingly(maybe?) suggested that the team and the media are partners because they're doing the games. Reid then challenged the WIP morning show to come out to practice and actually see the team and that if they did they'd come out feeling so much more positive. The sidekick then chimed in with a joke about Howard Eskin, implying that by coming to practice they would butt kissers. Hard to figure that one out...

- Angelo claims that he doesn't need to go to practice or talk to players because they never "give me much." He says Andy holds a lot of press conferences and doesn't say much. He claims that watching practice won't show him much. He asks Andy why he is not more open. Andy responds that he tells the media what they need to know and is as honest as he can be. Andy said that talking about the poor play of specific players publicly doesn't help them win.

- Angelo says the #1 concern of the fans is wide recievers and he doesn't understand Andy's philsophy about WRs. Andy gives a kind of generic answer where he says he likes the guys he has, they've added a guy that can help(Jackson), and that they all do different things. Andy blames the lack of production in the red zone on the lack of TE play they had rather than WR play.

- Angelo says he questions Andy's personal urgency to win now. Andy interupts and says "Stop, we're not waiting a year. We're going to win right now." Angelo asks if that's the case then why trade his first round pick? Andy says look at the package they got and the value they got in terms of Jackson and Laws. Hugh Douglas says they should have drafted Rashard Mendenhall or Kenny Phillips the safety from Miami. Andy said that's where evaluation comes in.

- Andy says that he hears that people wonder why if they spend so much money on CBs, then why not spend that same money on WRs? He says its the wrong wya to look at it. He's invested in playmakers. The corners are there not just to cover WRs, they're there to make plays and create turnovers. Andy says he sees all 3 corners he has as starters and that it's a "great situation." He doesn't understand why the media spent so much time focusing on the Lito situation. They respond by saying it's not the medias' job to be the Eagles PR team and only focusing on the positive, Andy says he understands that but at some point it's enough.

Hear the interview for yourself after the jump

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Bob Grotz makes the argument that Kevin Curtis has the credentials of a #1 receiver

Curtis had a career-best 77 receptions worth 1,110 yards and six touchdowns last season.

All of the numbers ranked among the NFC leaders, and in some cases, the NFL leaders.

What makes them remarkable is it was Curtis’ first year in the West Coast offense, a scheme so ridiculously complicated it takes players years to learn. It also was a year in which McNabb, rebounding from major knee surgery, didn’t get his feet under him until the homestretch.

Curtis ranked eighth in the NFC in receiving yards, ahead of the celebrated Plaxico Burress (1,025 yards) of the New York Giants, Steve Smith (1,002) of the Carolina Panthers, Anquan Boldin (853) of the Arizona Cardinals and — why not? — Williams (836) of the Detroit Lions.

Though Curtis was 13th in the conference in touchdown receptions, behind Burress (12), Boldin (9) and Smith (7), the Eagles struggled mightily in the red zone.

Later in that article Curtis goes on to say he wasn't put off or insulted by the Eagles' pursuit of a big name WR this offseason and would welcome one if something did happen before the season...

I like Kevin Curtis and clearly he looks like one of the better free signings of the Andy Reid era, especially as far as expectations go, but I'd have a hard time labeling him as a marquee receiver. Let's see what happens in year two.

One of the guys that actually garnered a good bit of surprise praise at the mincamp was Darren Howard. Howard was pretty much left for dead after last year where he was relegated to no more than situational DT. We all remember when he was brought in for pretty good money to be solution at DE opposite Jevon Kearse... As it turned out , neither were a solution... but Howard could end up playing a role here anyway.

Only this wasn't the Howard of the past two seasons, the one signed to a six-year, $30.5 million deal and expected to wreak havoc opposite Kearse in the Eagles pass rush.

This wasn't the frustrated Howard, who never came close to fulfilling that contract, lost his starting job and eventually faded into the shadows of the NovaCare Complex.

This Howard had trimmed down by 10 pounds, expressed optimism about 2008 and had accepted his role on the team.

Hey, he still has one right now.

"My whole career, I've always been one of the guys, if not the guy, on the defensive line," Howard said after the minicamp, recalling double-digit sack seasons with New Orleans.

"I talked to [defensive line coach] Pete Jenkins before the camp and I talked about my role, and I understand that and I accept that. ... For the last two years, I didn't really understand what my role was going to be because it wasn't always clear. Now that I know where it is, I know where I fit with this team and I know where I can contribute."

The way I see it, there's a spot for a 4th DT open here and Howard has just as good a shot at that as anyone. With Trent Cole, 2nd year man Victor Abiamiri,  Juqua Parker, free agent Chris Clemons, and 3rd round pick Brian Smith all but assured of roster spots... the DE position is pretty crowded.

We're just living in it!

The Eagles new starting MIKE linebacker got himself a few articles this week... starting with the official site.

At the end of his rookie season, linebacker Stewart Bradley provided a spark to the Eagles defense and showed enough of his ability to impress the coaching staff.

His mental and physical attributes caught their eye as well.

"He's tall," defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said. "He's big - 245 or 250 - but he's got good height. He's smart. He's picked things up. He did a great job in the offseason. He was here almost every day, learning things. So he's done a good job."

Last year, Bradley finished second on the team in special teams tackles with 17. In his first and only career start at middle linebacker, Bradley recorded a sack, an interception and a game-high 10 tackles in a late-season win over the New Orleans Saints which diminished their chances of making the playoffs and avenged a loss in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.

The article also states that Bradley will take over as the defensive signal caller this year. Last year, it was Omar Gaither who has moved from the middle to the WILL position.

The Courier Post says that one great game won him the starting job this year

Sometimes a great game is just a great game, but Stewart Bradley's made him the Eagles' starting middle linebacker.A third-round draft pick out of Nebraska in 2007, he flew under the radar for most of his rookie season, contributing mostly on special teams. Then, in the second-to-last game, he went from prospect to present.

In a victory at New Orleans, Stewart became the first player in Eagles' history to record his first career sack and his first career interception in his first career start.

"He had a couple pressures against the Saints, and then all of a sudden got the interception," said defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, who added that Bradley had been drafted as a strong-side backer. "All of a sudden, we put him inside in that game and he makes a couple plays."

A lot is riding on that group of young linebackers this year. Omar Gaither, entering his 3rd season is the "veteran" of the group... That said, their athleticism is undeniable. These guys are all big and they can all run. If Gocong can go from "solid" to "playmaker," Gaither can translate good inside play into good outside play, and Bradley is anything close to the playmaker we saw late in the year... we could be in for great things.

I honestly have never heard that this is how it works...

Even though agents and teams get around the rookie pool with contract escalators, post first-year option bonuses and one-time incentives, the rookie pool was created to somehow slot the signings of draft choices by the position they were selected. Each selection in the draft is given a value, which is a predetermined cap number. All rookies, including undrafted rookies, have to fit within the assigned rookie pool.

The Kansas City Cheifs were given the largest rookie pool and the Cleveland Browns got the lowest. The Eagles were right in the middle of the league with a rookie pool of $4,256,320. They have 10 picks to sign.

Ladainian Tomlinson,. who is the new Campbell's Chunky Soup guy and arguably the best RB in football, sat down with SI.com this week to answer a few questions... I think one was of particular interest to Eagles fans.

SI.com: Who is a guy in the NFL who does not get the national recognition he deserves?

Tomlinson: Brian Westbrook comes to mind. This guy is a heck of a player, one of the top players in the league. He definitely doesn't get the recognition that he should get. He plays on a team where he has carried them a lot of the time.

He certainly has carried this team...