There's always a couple of surprises when the 53-man roster is announced, and predicting those are risky business. Figuring out what the Eagles will do today is no different, particularly as the race to put A.J. Feeley in another uniform speeds up.

One selection that would have been a surprise at the beginning of camp might no longer be that much of a shock. At the fourth running back position, behind Brian Westbrook, Leonard Weaver and LeSean McCoy, I'd put Eldra Buckley on the roster rather than Kyle Eckel. (If there are any Lorenzo Booker fans out there, best of luck with that one.)

Buckley, in the opportunities he has had, takes the ball, runs straight ahead and knocks people over. Those are three good things. If he makes the team, his contributions would probably be mostly on special teams and he's not that big (5-foot-9, 205), but he's earned a spot.

If it were my calls, I'd also keep cornerback Dmitri Patterson over Jack Ikegwunou, and linebacker Matt Wilhelm over Tracy White. I'm a little nervous about the middle linebacking position and Wilhelm has experience in the middle of the field, albeit in a 3-4 defense. Otherwise, the Post Patterns projection looks just about like everyone else's. Dan Klecko is really on the bubble to make the D-line as is either Brandon Gibson or Reggie Brown at wide receiver.

Should the Eagles swap Feeley to New England for a tight end -- Alex Smith and Ben Watson are the bubble boys there -- I'd cross Matt Schobel off the 53-man list, too.

As Andy Reid likes to say, "We'll see." At about 6 p.m.

A funny thing happened on the way to the end of the exhibition season Thursday night in Giants Stadium. Somewhere along the way in the second half, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan broke the rules.

The rules are unwritten, but they go something like this: In the preseason, don't be a jerk. Just play basic defensive formations, don't blitz, don't get anybody on the other team hurt in a meaningless game for no reason -- unless you'd like to have that happen to your team, too.

By the end of the game, it got a little silly. On the next-to-last Eagles' drive, the final one with Michael Vick at quarterback. Ryan's defense used a stunt blitz to send third-string linebacker Larry Izzo and pancake Vick. Tsk, tsk, Rex.

At some point, Andy Reid had his team retaliate a little, but not much. The Eagles were just trying to get out of there in one piece and put their hectic little training camp and exhibition season behind them.

Afterward, Ryan made a big joke of it.

"We were playing vanilla defense, both of us, until it got real competitive at the end. A call or two slipped in there on both sides, them as well as us," he said.

But who started it? 

"I think they're going to say I did, but I don't believe I did. We ran a four-man rush and I don't think they did a good job of identifying the fourth guy. That's what led to the fumble for Vick. Then they started to blitz," Ryan said.

Oh, that's a kneeslapper. "Didn't do a good job of identifying the fourth guy." Of course, it's tough to identify him when he isn't a lineman. Vick was sacked by linebacker Marques Murrell on the fumble play, but whatever.

The question is whether this is just gamesmanship and trying to win (?) an exhibition contest and getting a little competitive about it, as Ryan said happened, or something more. Maybe it was just those old Ryan genes coming out. The crazy apple doesn't fall far from the crazy apple tree and so forth. If Buddy was watching back on the ranch, I'm sure he loved it.

The other possibility is that Vick's presence on the field might bring out a special ire in opposing teams and coaches. We've thought about hostile reactions from the stands on the road, but not much thought has been given to whether there's a few Cocker Spaniel lovers in the NFL coaching ranks, or guys who passed on taking a chance with Vick and would like to prove themselves correct.

That will be worth watching. Because in the regular season, there are rules, too, but "no blitzing" isn't one of them.

(Inquirer Staff Photo by David Swanson) 

New York Jets fans, perhaps presaging what Michael Vick will hear all season, booed him each time he stepped on the field in the first half Thursday night.

It wasn't voracious booing, or very long-lasting, but it was obviously directed at Vick. There were no nasty signs on display in Giants Stadium, not a single one. That's because the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority forbids signs and umbrellas in Giants Stadium.

So, no signs and, that's right, no umbrellas.

The level of vitriol from the stands might have been less than Vick will experience during the regular season, when the games actually mean something and when there is a full stadium and not a stadium half-full of people who got tickets from a buddy who didn't want to use them.

By the second half, when Vick went from situational player, getting 10 plays scattered during Kevin Kolb's half of work, to every-down quarterback in the second half, even that moderate amount of booing died down. I mean, whaddya expect, they were going to keep it up all night? Shaddup, already.

A week from Sunday in Carolina might be a little different, but, like everything else about Vick's return, this wasn't as crazy about you might have expected.

That's the report from ESPN's Chris Mortensen, who said it took place at the Eagles' Meadowlands-area hotel this morning. No word on whether coffee was served.

If that's the case, commissioner Roger Goodell could issue his ruling on the length of Vick's suspension any time. He is meeting with reporters for a standard state-of-the-league session at his office 4 p.m. this afternoon. Could be the opportunity right there. In any case, it seems certain Eagles will know Michael Vick's status well before Saturday's cutdown to 53 players.

Eagles are officially making no comment, quietly or otherwise, deferring to the league office on this one

Click here for earlier post on how tonight's exhibition games could affect A.J. Feeley's future.

The next employment opportunity for Eagles quarterback A.J. Feeley, who does not figure to remain on the roster much longer, could be decided tonight in Foxboro, Mass. when New England coach Bill Belichick gets his final live look at Andrew Walter, the current backup to quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady is still recovering from a "sore shoulder" suffered last week when Albert Haynesworth of the Redskins landed on Brady during an exhibition game. Brady threw his first passes -- mostly "lobs" according to reporters at the practice -- on Tuesday and has said he expects to be ready for the Pats' season opener.

The question is whether Belichick would like a dependable veteran like Feeley behind Brady, or is comfortable having that role filled by Andrew Walter, whose four seasons in Oakland were less-than-successful, but that doesn't mean the 6-foot-6 Walter can't play. It might merely mean the Raiders are seven kinds of messed up and dismissed Walter in favor or JaMarcus Russell without ever giving him a fair chance.

"I had four different head coaches in four years, three different offenses, five different offensive coordinators, and six or seven different play-callers. For a quarterback, when continuity is so important on the offensive side of the ball, we had none of that," Walter told Boston reporters. "Needless to say, it was a very rough time, a time of adversity, for sure."

Well, if you thought that was adversity, try pleasing Belichick. The Pats released Kevin O'Connell, who had been the backup, on Sunday. Belichick's reasons?

"There's not a lot of things that I could say to him," Belichick said after the release. " 'Well, if you would have done this differently. If you had done that differently.' We gave him the opportunities that we could, we evaluated what we saw from our players. It just didn't work out here."

O'Connell was signed by the Lions. (Of course.)

Walter gets his big audition tonight against the Giants. The Patriots also have a rookie free agent signing in camp, Brian Hoyer from Michigan State, but he seems eminently expendable, too. Walter's play could have a lot to do with whether the Patriots go after Feeley, who will get his own second-half showcase this evening against the Jets, such as it is.

Complicating the matter is when the Eagles will get the word on the length of Michael Vick's suspension from the league office. It continues to seem likely that commissioner Roger Goodell will hand out that information before the Eagles have to cut down to their 53-man active roster on Saturday afternoon.

A report by ESPN from Chris Mortensen said Goodell and Vick met this morning at the Eagles' Meadowlands-area hotel and Mort says an announcement is now expected Friday.

Here's the earlier Post Patterns look at the Vick suspension situation and a column from earlier this week on the waiting game played by Eagles backup Kevin Kolb.

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Apropos of nothing to do with the Eagles, Twitter followers should make sure to link up to the postings of New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy (@filipbondy), whose daily haikus may be the best reading on the internet.

A recent offering, combining Yankees and the U.S. Open:

Two A-Rods are here; Now that A-Roddick is near; Neither wins A-thing.

Roger Goodell, noted wearer of fine suits and commissioner of the NFL, visited Redskins' training camp this week -- now there's a work trip -- and was asked if had decided how long Michael Vick would be suspended.

Previously, Goodell said he would rule on Vick's eligibility prior to the sixth week of the regular season. That's such an open-ended statement that who knows what it really meant. Taken literally, and Goodell seems to be a literal guy, it means nothing. He could issue a ruling any time prior to that or, by the sixth week of the regular season, decide he needed more time to think it over.

"The issue for Michael is to be able to deal with all of the issues in that transition back to the NFL," Goodell said. "A lot of those issues that I'm focusing on are off the field. How is he doing with the transition? Does he has his family relocated. Does he have the right people around him, helping him make decisions. Tony Dungy has been incredibly helpful, Donovan McNabb has been helpful. I talk to Michael on a weekly basis, if not more. I'll be meeting with him sometime in the near future. I think he's making the right kind of progress. He's focused on the right kind of things."

Not a lot of meat on the bones there. The commissioner is focusing on off-the-field issues. Oh, yeah. That's a big shock. And Vick is making the right kind of progress. Which is good, because you never want to make the wrong kind of progress.

What does it all mean? There is a swell of backroom murmuring that indicates Goodell will do the Solomon thing and cut the suspension roughly in half, allowing Vick to return after sitting out three regular-season games. That would fall nicely for the Eagles, who have the bye in the fourth week and could get Vick back on the practice field for two weeks leading up to the Oct. 11 game. Another bonus is that game is a home game, which would also make for a smoother re-entry.

The big question is what would the Eagles do with Vick in the meantime. One theory is they would place him on the exempt list, thus allowing them to keep 53 other players on the active roster, but that would prevent Vick from practicing with the team. Andy Reid, speaking Tuesday about his plans for the roster, depending on the length of Vick's suspension, said, "I've got a plan either way."

I think they'll keep him active and keep him practicing. It doesn't make much sense to do otherwise and the suspension could benefit the Eagles in that way, if Vick's learning curve on picking up the offense and the Wildcat wrinkles he will take part in, is allowed to lenghten a bit. And although he'd certainly be working out somewhere if on the exempt list, practicing with the team will help his game conditioning return to its former level.

A side effect of that is Vick will get paid, with this season's $1.6 million guaranteed, if he is on the active roster. If not, the Eagles get to keep the dough a while longer, buy some time in the event that Vick makes the wrong kind of progress. That seems unlikely, though. At this point with Vick, they are in for a dime, in for a dollar.

The other decision is whether to deal A.J. Feeley now for a tight end or a draft pick or something tangible, or wait until the Vick suspension is lifted, taking the risk that teams would be satisfied with the reserve quarterbacks they already have in place.

Don't be surprised if Goodell and Vick meet Friday in New York, with an announcement of the exact length of the suspension coming late that afternoon.

We get letters here at Post Patterns, lots of letters. They come in the form of e-mails, mostly, except for the really disturbing ones that arrive in the office and usually have four or five stamps and a return address from somewhere like Crazyland, PA. You should see these letters.

But people like to write and they have ideas. In the last two weeks, a popular idea out there is that the NFL wanted Michael Vick back in the league quietly and peaceably, and leaned on the Eagles to be Vick's point of re-entry.

There is a mix of ideas associated with this theory, including the involvement of Tony Dungy, the strong hand of Roger Goodell and the sense that Andy Reid would be a sucker for the second-chance thing.

Nowhere in the theory, however, is an explanation of what the Eagles would supposedly be getting in return from the league for taking on the risk and the potential public relations nightmare of adding a convicted felon, a true fan-base divider, to the team.

Would they get a break on the salary cap? (Not that they need that.) Would they get a guarantee of winning every officials' play review this season? Extra tickets to the Super Bowl? Favorable time and date scheduling for their games? What?

No one knows, but they know it had to be something. Otherwise, how can you explain it?

The explanation is that things aren't always what they appear to be, but most of the time they are. Reid and Donovan McNabb were onboard with the idea of signing Vick from the beginning. It was a notion that gained steam within the organization and Reid still calls the shots. Once they got Jeff Lurie to sign off, it was a done deal.

Certainly, the league was happy Vick didn't end up in Oakland or somewhere the support system and franchise stability isn't on par with that in Philadelphia. But there's no way Goodell tried to place Vick. In that position, you can't play favorites, or appear to play favorites. Nice theory, but, no.

Apples and oranges? Or just midnight green and orange?

Both the Flyers and the Eagles operate in the world of a hard salary cap, although the enormous revenue generated by the NFL makes it a lot harder to spend too much there.

The Flyers are in a league where the cap is not only holding steady, but might be falling soon.

That didn't stop the Flyers from taking a big risk, and taking on a potentially big contract, to play for a Stanley Cup win right now.

They went out and traded for Chris Pronger, giving up two valuable draft picks, a recent first-rounder in defenseman Luca Sbisa and a decent scorer in Joffrey Lupul. In making the trade, they were also unable to resign winger Mike Knuble. Heavy trade, very heavy.

But as I tried to point out in a column in today's Inquirer, it was also the right move. Because you have to take big chances and big risks to win it all. Maybe they fall flat, but they are taking their shot.

Now, rightly or wrongly, the perception in Philadelphia is that the Sixers also take big chances (albeit not the right ones all the time), that the Phillies finally spent enough to get to the World Series (barely), and that the Eagles think they play in the National Fiscal League.

Is that a fair assessment of the Eagles? Well, they have been far, far under the cap at times, and based on actual dollars spent, some studies indicate they are somewhere in the middle of the league. Looking at that, it is difficult to disagree.

Part of the reason they were way under the cap last season was that they didn't have any of those 24-to-28-year-old guys they wanted to lock up forever. And that's at least partly because they have been developing them as rapidly in recent seasons as they did in the past. Being less talented isn't the goal, but it sure saves money.

The Eagles have two months until the opening of the season. Let's see them make some roster additions that match up, in risk and possible reward, with the Flyers' trade for Pronger. Then, promise, we'll stop talking about this terrible unfair perception.