First up, LJ Smith says that last year was just one big fluke...

L.J. Smith called it an aberration. Something that rarely happens twice. A bout of misfortune coupled with Murphy's Law.

He was referring to the sports hernia injury that sidelined him for most of mini-camp last season and required a second surgery in August and the late knee injury that, in total, rendered him useless for most of 2007.

Oh, did he mention that 2007 was supposed to be the walk year of his contract?

"It's one of those things where I like to look at it as a fluke," he said. "You don't want to ever have to have something like that happen again in your career."

Another guy who spent most of last year banged up was Todd Herremans, who doesn't want to blame injuries for his performance

"I don't want to blame it on anything," he said. "There's no excuse for technique breaking down. If I was getting overpowered or if I looked like I had a weak leg or anything, I don't think I really did. I think my focus just came away from my technique and what I was supposed to be doing out there.

"The way I look at it is, I need to be on the field because no one's job is ever secure," Herremans said. "That's the nature of the NFL. If you miss a couple games and someone comes in and fills for you and they start playing really well, you might be lost in the shuffle."

Herremans will be facing competition for a his starting job from Max Jean Gilles, who drew special praise from Andy Reid when he filled in for both Andrews and Herremans at points last year. Good news for Herremans is that Max Jean showed up 10 pounds overweight to minicamp...

Finally, at a Volunteers of America dinner Andy Reid said some nice generic stuff...

“You always make your number one goal to win the Super Bowl,” Reid said.

“There’s nothing you want to change in the attitude of the city. With the Eagles, yeah. The culture of the Eagles – people (now) want to win, they have won and they have an expectation of that.”