Eagles Notes: Eagles head to Oakland relatively healthy

For a team that has been bitten by the injury bug, the Eagles suddenly find themselves among the healthier units in the league.

Guard Todd Herremans (foot) and cornerback Dimitri Patterson (quadriceps) are out for tomorrow's game at Oakland. Wide receiver Kevin Curtis (knee) is questionable, but he is making the flight west. Defensive end Darren Howard sat out yesterday's practice with a toe contusion, but he's probable. And that's it.

For the first time this season, coach Andy Reid will have to make some tough decisions regarding who will dress against the Raiders and who will be inactive.

"It's a good problem to have," Reid said.

Herremans has been out all season but is making progress and he could be back for the Monday night game at Washington on Oct. 26. He ran with the scout team yesterday in practice and will have a scan of his left foot - where he suffered a stress fracture - on Tuesday.

"Everything felt good. It felt like I expected it to," said Herremans, who wasn't traveling with the team. "My ankle is still a little tired, but we'll be working through that."

Curtis missed the last two games with an inflamed left knee. His absence has allowed rookie Jeremy Maclin, who started in place of Curtis, to flourish. Even if Curtis can play, he probably will not start.

"I think his knee feels a little bit better in there," Reid said. "It looked like he made some progress the last couple of days so we'll just see how he does."

Travel plans. The Eagles left Philadelphia yesterday around 4 p.m. and will use the extra day in the Bay Area to get acclimated to the time change.

Reid has a 6-1 record in West Coast games during his 10-year tenure with the Eagles. The coach points to keeping the pre-game rituals as close to the schedule the team maintains when it plays at home as a reason for his success.

"It's a frame of mind," Reid said. "It's how you handle that time, it's not necessarily the schedule as how you handle that schedule. . . . From the time we get on the plane until the time we play the game, that you utilize that time wisely."

Reid has managed to avoid some of the more notorious incidents that sometime occur when a team has an extra day away before a road game.

"I have a lot of new guys on this football team and this is the first time that they've been with me on a two-day trip," Reid said. "I expect certain things and I know that the veteran players will be a good example."

Extra points. Donovan McNabb will wear a flak jacket for the second straight week to protect his mending fractured rib. Reid said that his quarterback is getting close to near 100 percent. "He was a little sore, not necessarily in the rib area alone, but sore from playing, on Monday," Reid said. . . . Jeremiah Trotter will likely make his second start at middle linebacker since returning from a two-year hiatus. "I think he's going faster than he [was] last week and I would anticipate that continues on," Reid said.