Andy Reid on "D&D" (Demps & Desean)

"They're both explosive and they're young and they have a lot of energy," Reid said. "And I have to keep one eye on each of them. I mean, they've got some personality now. But they love to play and they bring great energy to the football team and the veteran players love watching them."

Desean Jackson is certainly not short of confidence after yet another big game

"I felt the punter got a good kick on it and kind of outkicked his coverage," Jackson said. "I just did a great job of catching the ball and making two moves to the side and hitting the seam and getting right up the middle. From there it was nothing but daylight."

Quintin Demps had some advice for Patriots' Kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who Demps ran over en route to his 101 yd kick return.

"He's got to get in the weight room," Demps said.

Shawn Andrews looked surprisingly good, especially considering he's missed all of camp and the preseason so far.

"I definitely wanted to show that I still have fundamentals and I still know my plays and protections," Andrews said. "I also wanted to use this game as a measuring stick for my conditioning to see where I was and where I need to get. I was very pleased, with the exception of a couple of plays. That's something we're going to work on. We didn't work on it much, but that's not an excuse. We are going to get better. We still have two weeks to go. It was just like old times, for the most part," he said. "Of course, there are some things we need to iron out as a group, and we're going to get them ironed out."

The solid play of the Eagles young WRs certainly helped to vindicate the words of GM Tom Heckert

"We all hear it," general manager Tom Heckert said when asked about the Eagles' receiving corps during an interview on the team's Web site. "Everybody hears it. Why don't we have a big stud? But if you can get that out of your mind for one second - I know it's difficult for a lot of people - but we think we have six really, really good receivers."

Jaws1382 has some insights and has started a good conversation about Heckert's comments over in the fanposts.

Friday, August 22 7:30 pm

Location Gillette Stadium - Foxboro, Mass

TV - 6abc

Radio - 94.1 WYSP, Sirius 122

Tonight we should see the Eagles starters play into the third quarter and it's likely the final time we'll see the starters until opening day. As always post all your thoughts and evaluations in the comments. Here's to a good night and no injuries!

Preseason game 3 is upon us and it's the game where we should see the starters playing into the 3rd quarter. For the Eagles, there will be some notable returns to the starting lineup as well as som notable absences.

Reggie Brown will be held out of tonight's game after suffering a hamstring strain against the Panthers. With the news that Kevin Curtis is out, the Eagles do not want to take any risks with Reggie's health. The next time we'll see him is week one against the Rams and team sources are saying they expect him to be 100% healthy.

In the absence of the Eagles 2 starting WRs, Hank Baskett and Desean Jackson will start and Jackson is excited for the opportunity,

I'm just excited to get out there and start with the 1's," Jackson said. "It's a tremendous opportunity for me. I feel like I've been doing a good job getting in the playbook, getting with Donovan (McNabb). Being a starter is a lot different than being a backup receiver. I just have to go out there and put in the work. It's a little different because you're taking more reps and you have to go out there and go hard the whole time. When I was with the 2's, I was behind Reggie and I'd usually go in when the 2's go in there, but now I'm in there with the 1's and the tempo's a lot higher and I have to learn a lot faster."

Desean currently leads the NFL in catches so far in preseason play.

Also getting his first shot in the starting lineup, albeit at a new position, is Tony Hunt.  Hunt's impressive play on special teams is what has led the Eagles to try to find a spot on the roster for him at fullback.

'He's obviously taken more of an initiative to do well on special teams, and that's one of the main areas that we have to have our fullback able to contribute in,'' special teams coordinator Rory Segrest said.

Hunt feels the learning curve from RB to FB will not be that hard.

''The pass plays, you're running the same routes, and with pass protection, you're doing the same things, blocking the same way and blocking the same people,'' Hunt said.

Making his return to New England tonight is former Patriot Asante Samuel. Pats safety Rodney Harrison update fans on Samuel's mood these days...

"I talked to him the other day," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. "He's doing great. Wouldn't you, $60 million richer? He's doing wonderful."

Yes, I'd imagine if I was $60 million richer I'd be doing great as well. Asante will be in the starting lineup tonight and is expected to as long as the starters do. Against Carolina he started, but didn't play after the lightning delay because his hamstring had tightened up. As for the reception he'll get? Pat's Pulpit plans to cheer.

As for the Patriots, QB Tom Brady is not expected to play. Without him, the Pats offense has struggled

Without him, backups Matt Cassel, Matt Gutierrez and Kevin O'Connell have produced a total of just two touchdowns. Starting running back Laurence Maroney hasn't done much better, with just 21 yards on 13 carries in the two games.

The Boston Herald is saying that it's "a possibility" Brady could suit up tonight.

After the news this week, all of Philadelphia eye's will be on the play of our WRs... but as Pat's Pulpit says, the Pats DBs may be ripe for the picking after their performance against Tampa

Defensive Backs - Uhhm...Was this the "I'm in Jello" mime game?  Both Ellis Hobbs and Fernando Bryant were playing so soft I thought I was watching a Charmin commercial.  And the safeties weren't much better.  Granted, John Lynch was practically suiting up on the plane ride from Mile High Stadium, but let's show 'em school is in session with teacher's Harrison and Lynch presiding over the lecture.

Even though it doesn't count, it's always fun to face the Pats. So here's to a good game with NO injuries and maybe a Samuel pick off one of the backups against his old team?

Preseason game #3 for the Eagles is set to kick off in Foxborough, Mass Friday night and one team will see the return of a regular pro bowler while the other will likely have to wait.

Tom Brady said yesterday he's not certain whether he'll be sufficiently recovered from a right foot injury to participate in the Patriots' third exhibition game, which is Friday at home against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm trying to get treatment this week and I'm feeling better every day," Brady said on radio station WEEI. "It's going to end up being up to coach [Bill Belichick] and what he wants to do, but I think he's been coaching long enough to understand that the first game in September is what's going to be important for us."

Brady hasn't taken a snap in the preason and his backups have been subpar to say the least. Downright bad would maybe be a better description... Frankly, given that it's preseason I'd love to see Brady back. Beating up on the likes of Matt Cassel doesn't really tell us much about our defense.

Good news for the Eagles is that pro bowler Shawn Andrews will see his first action of the year.

Andrews, who missed the last week of spring minicamp and the first 17 days of training camp while battling what he's called clinical depression, will start at right guard tomorrow, when the Eagles face the Patriots in a preseason game in Foxboro, Mass.

"Shawn is going to give it a go, and we'll just see how he does," Reid said. "We're going to try to keep good communication with him during the game and give him an opportunity to play."

"It means that coach Reid has a lot of trust and respect in me to put me back in there because it wasn't even a big deal to me because I know Max has worked hard this training camp and Max is a good player," Andrews said. "If Max keeps working hard, he's going to be a great player."