Buddy Ryan famously referred to Norman Braman as "the guy in France."

    Now, Brian Westbrook seems to be embarking on his quest for a new contract by hiring a guy named France, agent Todd France, based in Atlanta. Though as of midafternoon Wednesday, the hiring still was not official, an Eagles source told your Eagletarian, and rumors were swirling that Westbrook might be yet again changing his mind. (Ever notice how rumors always swirl, they never meander or chug?)

   First things first: No, this is not the guy who used to kick for the Eagles, the Soul, and a whole bunch of other NFL and Arena teams. When last heard from last month, that Todd France had been signed by the Chicago Rush after their kicker got hurt. The agent Todd France reportedly used to joke that he was the NFL's second-most-famous guy with that name, back when he was first starting out.

    Right now, Omar Gaither is France's only Eagles client. He also represents former Eagle Takeo Spikes, who was something of a mentor to Gaither. Spikes, an Auburn alum, is typical of France's 30 or so NFL clients, who tend to come from Auburn, Georgia and Georgia Tech. France went from footnote to major player in 2003 when he left the CSM agency where he'd gotten his start, taking its entire football division with him, including Spikes, who was a star at the time. As you might expect, a lawsuit followed that move, but it didn't keep France Athlete Management Enterprises (FAME, get it?) from flourishing.

      France had never represented a first-round pick until 2005, when suddenly he had three of his clients taken there, most notably Auburn running back Ronnie Brown, second overall, by the Dolphins. France also has represented other high-profile runners, such as Priest Holmes.

      France isn't known for holding clients out or for engineering high-stakes public confrontations (next question!). But the Eagles are believed to be concerned that Westbrook's selection process might have come down to which guy made the most lavish promise about a new deal; Westbrook was recently quoted in the Inquirer as saying he thought he deserved $30 million in guarantees, which would be an off-the-charts record for a soon-to-be-29-year-old running back. (Where is Priest Holmes these days, anyway? Maybe Todd France knows.)

       Anyhow, it's worth reiterating that the Eagles are eager to have an official Westbrook representative to talk to, that they seem very interested in doing a Westbrook deal. They don't want this to be the season of the unhappy No. 36. But they also aren't guaranteeing $30 million to a soon-to-be-29-year-old running back.

Donovan McNabb and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson were in the interview tent today. Johnson was asked for the umpteenth time about using three cornerbacks -- Asante Samuel, Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown -- at the same time.

Here is his response, along with highlights from what he and McNabb had to say.

Johnson ...

On what percentage of the time they will play nickel coverage: “Every year it’s different. I know some years we started a couple games with nickel defense. It was like 65, 70 percent of the time we played a lot of nickel. Some years it might be 40 percent, but I anticipate 50 or 60 percent. As more and more teams go to three wideouts, four wideouts on first and second down, we’re going to match up with our nickel defense. But I’m not going to let ‘em dictate too much. I might start the game with all three of ‘em on the field. There’s a lot of things we feel comfortable doing with those three guys. It’ll work itself out. I’m not too concerned about that right now. It’s good competition."


On whether S Sean Considine could challenge S Quintin Mikell for a starting spot: “I think that, right now, it’s Q’s job. There’s no question about it. But, we’ll play the best player. That’s what preseason’s about. The lineup is pretty well set. We’ll use Sean a lot of different ways. Sometimes in nickel, and Q will play in dime. We’ll try to get the best players on the field.”

McNabb ...

On what can be done to improve the offense without many major offseason moves:
“I think for us, we pretty much have to get back to the basics and not try to come out and shock people with different types of plays. I think if we run our offense and get everybody involved early, I think that will be important for us to get into that rhythm. We started fast [in 2006] against the Houston Texans, and opened up the offense a little more. I think we can do that."

On personally getting back to the playoffs for the first time since 2004:
“The team has been to the playoffs. I’ve been in the playoffs a lot, so it’s not like I don’t know how to play in the playoffs. Again, for me it’s just doing what we need to do in order to get there. Once we get there, it will take care of itself. I’ve missed three years of not being in the playoffs. A lot of teams haven’t been to the playoffs in six or seven years. I look at it as riding a bike. If you do your job during the regular season, everything takes care of itself in the playoffs."

On whether he felt like himself at all last season:
“Not at all. I felt like the knee was getting stronger, but confidence was always in it. I felt like I was always preparing for the next week. In any situation where it deals with knees or ankles or shoulders, it seems like you’re just getting ready for that next week. Then, once you feel like it’s better, you are preparing for that next week again. With rest, taking a little bit of January and February off, I didn’t really start running until the end of March, where I was just focusing on those particular injuries and getting them back to speed.”

*
Also, the Eagles placed rookie defensive tackle Trevor Laws (foot) and rookie defensive end Bryan Smith (hamstring) on the physically unable to perform list and rookie cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu (knee) on the physically unable to perform list with a non-football injury. 

Andy Reid said Laws and Smith are scheduled to return to practice in the next few days, while Ikegwuonu is expected to miss the entire season with a knee injury suffered during a workout prior to the NFL draft.

    There were more reporters than players on hand for the Eagles' first training camp workout this morning, with only rookies, a sprinkling of vets coming off injuries, and the quarterbacks taking part. But Donovan McNabb seemed to be throwing the ball easily, with no lingering effects from the shoulder tendinitis that cropped up during minicamps.

     McNabb said after practice that he expects to see Brian Westbrook when the remaining vets report on Thursday, and he doesn't expect the franchise running back's contract situation to get in the way of a successful season. "Westbrook will be here," McNabb said. "He's going to be the same guy we know."

     It would have been more reassuring if McNabb's information had been a little better sourced, though.

   "I haven't talked to him, I just feel like he'll be here," said McNabb, who added that Westbrook's attempts to revise his five-year $25 million contract, binding through 2010, are "none of my business."

    Asked if it was important for Westbrook to be happy here, McNabb said: "I think we all want to be happy."

  Cue Bobby McFerrin.

   Meanwhile, the team and most observers began the day thinking Westbrook was in the process of hiring agent J.R. Rickert to replace Fletcher Smith, McNabb's agent, whom Westbrook fired last week. No puff of white smoke has so far been sighted coming out of the chmneys of Westbrook's Maryland horse farm, however, and the sense Tuesday afternoon was that Westbrook was still deciding between Rickert, a South Jersey native now living near Albany, N.Y.,  and Georgia-based Todd France. Rickert's clients include Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter. France represents Eagles linebacker Omar Gaither.

   The Pro Football Talk Web site reported that Westbrook had hired France. When contacted by your Eagletarian, France said he was aware of the report but could not comment. He said he expected to know more on Wednesday. The NFL Players' Association Web site still does not list an agent for Westbrook, and an NFLPA spokesman has not returned calls or e-mails seeking comment.

      Whichever lucky fellow finally gets the nod, he ought to expect to hit the ground running. The Eagles would very much like to put this headache behind them, and they are expected to move quickly to reopen talks on a revised deal, which were underway when Westbrook fired Smith.

      In other news, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said linebackers Stewart Bradley and Omar Gaither will be designated to wear the NFL's new defensive helmet headsets, to communicate with the sidelines. That's because at least one or the other should be on the field at all times, Johnson figures, despite situational substitutions.

   Johnson said he anticipates playing nickel 50 to 60 percent of the time, which might ease the crowded cornerback situation, where Asante Samuel, Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown all are accustomed to starting

    .. 

Donovan McNabb is expected to practice this morning for the first time since he was shut down with shoulder tendinitis during the organized team activities in early June.

McNabb posted on his blog recently that the shoulder was fine and that he was working out with some of his wide receivers in Arizona.

Now, everyone gets their first look at McNabb. And anything and everything McNabb is news. The quarterback also will be in the interview tent after the morning practice.

Coach Andy Reid said the team will monitor the number of throws McNabb makes during training camp.

“We’ll monitor it," Reid said Monday. "He has been throwing out in Arizona and seems to be feeling pretty good. We’ll have to keep a close eye on that and make sure that we limit his throws to see exactly where he is.”

Every summer, we hear this is a watershed year for McNabb. Yet, he's still the quarterback. So should we pay any attention to the rhetoric this time around? No question, many of us jumped the gun at midseason in '07, assuming McNabb was gone at the end of the year. He played better in the second half and management showed it was not as eager for regime change as some of us had thought.

But Kevin Kolb is not a figment of our imagination. McNabb has to be healthy and good this year, has to lead the Eagles back into the playoffs. It's really hard to imagine his era here going forward on anything less than that.

But if McNabb is healthy and productive, the picture changes dramatically. Who in his right mind casts off a healthy, 32-year-old Pro Bowl quarterback? When did that ever happen? McNabb absolutely has the opportunity to put Kolb on ice long term by playing well, which is why Andy Reid has done a funny sort of dance this offseason, talking up the idea of McNabb being here for years to come and de-emphasizing the idea that he is down to his last shot, while at the same time quietly moving Kolb ahead of A.J. Feeley, into the primary backup role. Of Kolb's move to the second team, Reid said, "He’ll get a few more reps and we’ll see how he does, see if he continues to progress and I anticipate that he does.”

There are two egos that have to be juggled here: Kolb certainly doesn't believe he is 3 or 4 years away from being able to take over a team. Kolb

The worst-case scenario is some outcome that isn't cut-and-dried. McNabb is up and down, Brian Westbrook gets hurt, and the Eagles barely miss the playoffs. Then what do you do? Or, say, McNabb is astonishing for 13 weeks, then gets hurt, and Kolb doesn't set the world on fire.

As someone once said, get your popcorn ready.

  Andy Reid said he isn't worrying about a potential Brian Westbrook holdout, as the franchise running back tries to get a better contract. Westbrook, who last week fired agent Fletcher Smith, is expected to hire South Jersey native J.R. Rickert within the next day or so. Veterans are scheduled to report to Lehigh on Thursday.

  "I'm sure he would be" on time, Reid said of Westbrook, during Reid's training camp-opening news conference. Rookies and select vets reported today. "Brian's obviously one of the leaders of this football team, so I would expect that he would be here."

   Reid also said he was not concerned about the contract squabble shadowing the Birds' season.

     "We've always done a good job with those things, so I'm not worried about that. We've always been very fair and understanding to playes we've approached about contracts ... I'll leave it at that," Reid said.

     Other news: The Eagles signed their final rookie, second-round defensive tackle Trevor Laws, but Reid disclosed that Laws had suffered a foot injury preparing for camp and won't participate in the rookie workouts that begin today and continue through Thursday. Reid didn't go into detail about the injury. He seemed to anticipate Laws being OK by the end of the week, when full-squad practices begin.

    The other primary rookie d-lineman, third-round defensive end Bryan Smith, needed an MRI yesterday after suffering a hamstring injury. Reid noted that defensive line coach Pete Jenkins "might not have much to do" until vets report.

    Reid said he will meet with disgruntled corner Lito Sheppard when he reports, presumably to clear the air. Reid said Sheppard "will have an opportunity to start just like the other guys do," though Reid has named $57 million free-agent signee Asante Samuel the starter on the left side, where Sheppard has played in  the past.

    One sign that this is Reid's 10th Eagles camp and not his first was his announcement of an "over-30 club." Veterans over 30 years old --excluding the quarterbacks and kicker David Akers, who are needed every day -- will work two full days, then get the morning practice off the third day, throughout camp, Reid said.

As rookies and select vets report to Lehigh this afternoon, we still don't know if Brian Westbrook will show up with the remaining vets on Thursday, but we do know he seems close to hiring agent J.R. Rickert, who represents fellow Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter. A source close to the situation said Westbrook is expected to make an announcement today or tomorrow.

Rickert is affiliated with Peter Schaffer and Lamont Smith, the agents Lito Sheppard fired last week in favor of Drew Rosenhaus. Rickert is based is Niskayuna, N.Y., though, and the Schaffer group is based in Colorado. Rickert is originally from South Jersey and graduated from Holy Cross High in Delran. His father lives in Pennsauken.

He also represents Eagles fullback Jason Davis and center Jamaal Jackson. Westbrook apparently also has discussed his situation with his original agent Tony Agnone, whom he fired in favor of Fletcher Smith in 2005, but Westbrook is believed to be ready to go wtih Rickert, as he tries to upgrade the 5-year, $25 million contract extension he signed in 2005.

Rickert, Schaffer and Smith have more clients on the Eagles than any other group of agents.

Remember all the talk about how Jason Taylor would be a good fit for the Eagles.

Well, the "Dancing" Dolphin ended up in the NFC East, but with the Washington Redskins instead. Miami traded Taylor on Sunday for a a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round choice in 2010.

When the Taylor-Miami schism was first detected in the spring, the word from NovaCare was that the Eagles weren't all that interested, given what the Dolphins would probably want, and given Taylor's age. Eagles GM Tom Heckert worked for the Dolphins back when Taylor was drafted, and they apparently know each other pretty well. Of course, the wild rumors of a Taylor for Lito Sheppard deal being in the works spread quickly, and we even heard a bogus suggestion at the draft in New York City that a deal was close.

If Taylor could have been had then for a third- or fourth-rounder lots of teams around the league would have been interested, but the Dolphins were said to be looking for much more. By waiting, they got it, even if they did not get the first-round pick that some reports indicated they were seeking.

Perhaps desperation makes teams do funny things. Earlier Sunday, the Redskins lost defensive end Philips Daniels with a season-ending knee injury suffered on the first day of training camp.

Taylor has two years remaining on his contract and is expected to be at Redkins Park for training camp Monday. Earlier in the offseason, he said he only expected to play one more year, but Washington executive vice
president Vinny Cerrato told reporters, according to the Associated Press, that he expected that Taylor would play more than those final two years on his contract.

Guess the Redskins got lucky that someone that good was available so soon when they suffered a catastrophic injury. Makes you wonder just what might happen around the Eagles if another team lost, say, a cornerback to injury in training camp ...

As training camp begins, the Eagles only seem to have a few spots in play as far as starters go, unless you want to get into the semantic discussion of three “starting cornerbacks” should the Eagles open with Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard all on the field at once. Along with left guard and fullback, there are some other interesting battles worth watching this summer at Lehigh:

* Left guard: Todd Herremans needs to hold off a challenge from Max Jean-Gilles. Herremans did better with the offseason conditioning than Jean-Gilles, who still shows signs of being a massive force. Jean-Gilles, a fourth-round pick in 2006, is huge at 6-3, 358 and got some playing time last season, appearing in four games with one start for the injured Shawn Andrews. Herremans has been the starter the last two seasons at left guard, but played tackle at Saginaw Valley State and in his first season with the Eagles. If Herremans retains his starting position and either Jon Runyan or Tra Thomas gets hurt, don't be surprised if Herremans moves over to tackle and Jean-Gilles comes in at guard. That scenario also could be in the Eagles’ future, given the ages of Runyan and Thomas and the lingering questions about Winston Justice.

* Fullback: The Eagles don’t use the fullback that often, but someone will have to play there. The Birds acquired Luke Lawton from Indianapolis in a trade during the spring. That ended the Dan Klecko experiment as Klecko moved back to defense. The battle is between Lawton and Jason Davis. Davis, who spent last season on the practice squad, is a better runner, but that just isn't the job here. Lawton appeared in 11 games last season as a reserve running back, fullback and special teamer with the Colts. The Eagles are his fifth organization after stints with Buffalo, the Giants and Jets, and Indianapolis. Most of his previous career has been spent on the practice squad.

* Reserve wide receivers: The Eagles added DeSean Jackson and will shed somebody from the group behind starters Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown. As you might have heard somewhere, they don't have a lot of star-quality wideouts, but they do have several serviceable fourth-receiver types who could catch on elsewhere if they don't make it here. They might even be able to get something (not much, but something) for one of them in a trade. Who's on the bubble? I'd say Jason Avant and Greg Lewis, maybe both if Bam Childress or undrafted rookie Jamal Jones make the team. For some reason, I think Hank Baskett sticks around.

* Third tight end: You figure L.J. Smith and Brent Celek are set, so Matt Schobel and newcomer Kris Wilson are fighting for the one remaining spot. Schobel is the incumbent, but could be out if Wilson has a good camp. Wilson signed a 3-year deal in the offseason after spending 4 years with the Kansas City Chiefs, who selected him in the second round in 2004. He caught 24 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown last season, and has 42 receptions for 342 yards for his career.

* Reserve running back: The Eagles carried four running backs last season, and one of them was return man Reno Mahe. The no-brainers are that Brian Westbrook and Lorenzo Booker are in. Presumably, that leaves two spots for Tony Hunt, Correll Buckhalter and Ryan Moats. Moats needs a miracle to make the team. I hope Correll Buckhalter doesn't, because he has been such a valiant warrior.

* Darren Howard: He spent time as both a defensive end and a defensive tackle during his disappointing tenure with the Birds thus far. If he is going to make the team this year, it would have to be at tackle, where he could be part of the mix behind Brodrick Bunkley and Mike Patterson. Veteran Kimo von Oelhoffen, Montae Reagor, now-undersized Dan Klecko and rookie Trevor Laws would be the competition for the remaining spots.

*

In other Eagles related news, or former Eagles related news, linebacker Takeo Spikes visited the Detroit Lions last week, the Detroit Free Press is reporting. With training camps upon us, Spikes is still looking for work. The Eagles released Spikes in March.

The Eagles' problem is usually not needing to throw the ball even more, but ... The Birds have brought in former Delaware quarterback and current Arena League standout Matt Nagy, of the Columbus Destroyers, as their intern QB coach for the summer.

Despite the clamoring from the fans or the suggestions that he has too much responsbility for personnel, by the end of the season, no one will have coached the Eagles longer than Andy Reid. 

And the thing is, nobody can begin to predict right now when the end will come. Reid weathered all that speculation a year ago about his family situation forcing him out. He said recently that he can't envision doing anything else, and that he doesn't blame his job or the fishbowl his family lives in here for the drug convictions of his two older sons.

There is no indication that Reid is on any sort of hot seat with owner Jeffrey Lurie. BYU, his alma mater and, some felt, his dream job, came calling years ago and was sent away. Every indication is that Eagles Nation will be gritting its teeth through painfully uninformative news conferences, punctuated by random throat-clearings, for years to come.

"When you first start off, you're just trying to make it to the next year. 'How will I make it to 3 years in this league?' - the average of a head coach. You're planning for the future,'' Reid, 50, said recently. "Then you hit this point - I don't know if it's Year 7, wherever it is - where you're going, 'Man, I love every minute of this.' You're not even thinking about when you're going to end. At least, that's not where I'm at; at my age and years here, you appreciate every day even more now than you did back then. You're still working hard. That part hasn't changed. The work level hasn't changed.''

Read more of Les Bowen's profile of Reid's first decade and check out the highs and lows of the Reid era.

Plus, our friends at philly.com have redesigned the Eagles page, with training camp upon us, including a nice spot for Ealgetarian and a printable version of the Daily News Fans Guide to Training Camp.