No matter what happens between now and their Nov. 1 home game against the New York Giants, the Eagles will have a difficult time making any kind of definitive statement about who they are and where they're going.

The Eagles' schedule this month is a blessing.

After missing two games with a fractured rib and getting just one preseason chance to mesh with Michael Vick and the Wildcat offense, quarterback Donovan McNabb has an extended preseason of sorts, going against three offensively challenged teams that are a combined 3-9.

"Obviously these next couple of weeks, we have to get everybody back together and get everybody back on the field and playing better," safety Quintin Mikell said after practice Monday. "I feel like we can do good things."

If the Eagles beat the 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, then follow with road wins against the 1-3 Oakland Raiders and 2-2 Washington Redskins, they will have a nice, shiny 5-1 record.

And everybody will ask this question: Whom have they beaten?

The combined record of the Eagles' first six opponents is 7-16. Subtract the 4-0 New Orleans Saints, who routed the Eagles at the Linc in Week 2, and that record slips to 3-16.

Three of the Eagles' first six opponents have not won a game. Four rank 18th or lower in points allowed. Five rank 26th or lower in points scored. The Bucs rank 28th in average points per game with 13.5 and 25th in average points allowed with 26.8.

The Eagles lost to the Redskins twice last season and scored just one offensive touchdown in the process. Washington can still play good defense. The Redskins are allowing just 15.5 points per game, which is tied for fourth in the NFL.

"There is no guarantee . . . so we have to be ready to play," Mikell said.

A loss to the Bucs shouldn't happen again, at least not if this Eagles team wants to prove it is among the elite in the NFL.

"I honestly feel, when I look at the rest of our schedule, that we're right there with anybody," Mikell said. "Even against the Saints, we didn't play our best game, and I felt like we could have won that, too."

The Eagles didn't have McNabb or Vick when they lost to New Orleans. Now they have both, and the schedule appears friendly and forgiving as those two become accustomed to each other.

Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter begins his third stint with the team. Even though the Bucs, Raiders, and Redskins have struggled offensively, they provide a better gauge of Trotter's ability than the Eagles' scout team in practice.

By the time the Eagles get to the teeth of their schedule next month against the Giants, they should have a better feel for the best way to get the McNabb-Vick combination working and for whether Trotter is his old self or just old.

The Eagles also should be 5-1. If they're not, October will be a curse rather than a blessing.

Note. The Los Angeles Times reported last night that Vick would partner with Black Entertainment Television in an eight-part series that will spotlight his life and troubled times.

The series is tentatively entitled The Michael Vick Project, and is scheduled to appear early next year.

"I just want people to really get to know me as an individual," Vick said in an interview with the Times, the paper reported. "What I want to do is change the perception of me. I am a human being. I've made some mistakes in the past, and I wish it had never happened. But it's not about how you fall, but about how you pick yourself up."