The Eagles released their preseason schedule this afternoon and it includes a Thursday Aug. 20 nationally televised game on FOX against the Colts in Indianapolis. The preseason will begin the week before -- either Aug. 13 or 14 -- with a game against the New England Patriots at Lincoln Financial Field.

The entire four-game schedule:

Aug. 13 or 14, vs. New England Patriots at Lincoln Financial Field

Aug. 20, 8 p.m. vs. Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Field

Aug. 27, 7 p.m. vs. Jacksonville Jaguars at Lincoln Financial Field

Sept. 3, 7 p.m. vs. New York Jets at Meadowlands 

We here -- actually, it's just me here -- at Birds Eye View often ridicule the hated competition over at Eagleterian, but today we have a collaborative effort in the interest of getting our beloved readers at philly.com as much information as fast as possible. Paul Domowitch, the esteemed veteran national writer from the Daily News, posted Part One of this morning's Breakfast with Andy interview at the swanky St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and this is Part Two of that dialogue with the Eagles' head coach. As Italian-American mothers like to say while serving enormous portions of pasta: Enjoy.

On safety Sean Jones' one-year contract: "If it works out and he plays well, it's a win-win for him. He either ends up coming back with us or he's able to get a nice contract somewhere else."

On Quintin Demps getting the first crack at being the starting free safety: "Yeah, but there will be competition. Both Quintins will have a shot. Quintin Mikell is established.

On how he will line up the safeties: "Quintin Mikell can play either one. Quintin Demps played free and we just have to see how the whole thing works out. We brought Demps in here to do what he did. We were able to ease him into the lineup as the season went on and give him some good playing experience. It's a matter of him coming in and being able to retain what he learned last season and then going out physically and play."

On how Sean Jones gets on the field as safety: "There are things we can do, so there is going to be some flexibility. And Sean is a big guy. Putting him down close to the line of scrimmage does not hurt you at all. At the same time, as long as he keeps his weight right he can run very well, too. I'll open up (the safety competition) and let them go. But I can tell you that Quintin Mikell is right on the edge of going to the Pro Bowl."

On his feelings when he heard about defensive coordinator Jim Johnson's cancer late in the season: "I had known before we actually played the last couple games. I had an idea what was up. That's tough. We've been together so long and you don't want to see somebody in as much pain as he was in. When he gets to the point where he can't walk, that's tough. That's not a good thing. It was just a matter then of making sure he received the best help he could get and I think that's happened.

"His emotional makeup is very similar to his emotional makeup on the field. He doesn't want to talk about it, he just wants to get it done with. He's attacking it and trying to get it right. As a matter of fact, right now he's in Spain. I really think his number one goal is to be able to golf. He was trying to get it taking care of by this trip. I don't know if he got that far, but he wanted to be able to golf in Spain. I don't know if (the chemotherapy) is done yet. I think he had a couple more stages left of that, but he's been through enough. Most men would be on their back, but he's just stubborn. He's been in the office every day.

"He's way better than what he was. He can get around now. To say he's getting better, I would say drastically better since the (NFC) championship game. He's made progress." 

On whether Johnson can handle the full responsibility of being the team's defensive coordinator: "I think so, yeah. And then he knows he has (secondary coach) Sean McDermott who he's trained. Sean can step in and take over there if needed, but I don't know if it will get to that point. Jim knows that and he's prepared Sean for that. Jim is always going to be my coordinator as long as he can do it. You never know how bad it is, but I think it's important that he knows (he's the coordinator) and all the guys around him know that. Jim banks on Sean a lot anyway, so maybe he does a little bit more. He'll do what Jim can't do, but right now I think Jim can do everything."

On Brent Celek and the tight end situation: "I expect (Celek) to get better in the blocking area, but he's not far off there and he's very willing. We'll get that part taken care of. He can be a number one tight end in this league and for us. I have no problem with that. However, you need depth at that spot. We do have (Matt) Schobel there and Schobel is a good receiver. We probably need to get another guy in there. I like to have three tight ends.

On whether the third tight end needs to be an outstanding blocker: "They better be able to do both. I always feel like you can teach the blocking part of it. He's got to be willing to learn the blocking part, but getting guys that can catch the ball, that's hard to teach. You try to get a guy with decent hands and with the potential to be a blocker."

On whether Oklahoma's Brandon Pettigrew, the top-rated tight end in the draft: "I think he can do both. I think he's savvy. He's not real fast, but he's just a huge human being."

On the team's coaching changes (Ted Daisher special teams coordinator, Rory Segrest from special teams to defensive line, James Urban to quarterbacks coach and Doug Pederson to offensive quality control): "I like them so far, but there are a couple of them I haven't been in the heat of things with during a game. Ted Daisher I've been close with and Rory at the defensive line spot."

On the defensive line: "I think what you'll get is probably a healthier dose (at defensive end) of Victor (Abiamiri). He's another year older and healthy. He was coming on early, then was injured and then came on toward the end. It will be good to get him in there and get a full season out of him. I'll always keep my eyes open (for other defensive linemen). I just think everybody is better when that spot is a strength. I can't sit here and say, 'No, I'm not going to take sombody there (in the draft).' "

On whether Abiamiri is now the starter ahead of Juqua Parker: "They're both going to play. I look at it as we have eight (defensive linemen). I'm slowly figuing out how the hockey players do it in case we have 18 games.

On whether he could look to upgrade the wide receiver position: "I'll always look at something if there is a great player out there and it doesn't matter what position. I'm always looking to better our football team. Do I think we have good enough guys there? Yeah, I do. I think you get an even better Jason Avant this year. He kind of reached his abilities last year and now we can get a whole season out of him. You have a healthy Kevin Curtis. You have to remember, Kevin was coming off a sports hernia and that was an unbelievable thing he did by playing through that. You've got Reggie Brown who is a starter and you've got a young DeSean (Jackson) coming back and this is a very important year for him ... because the defensive coordinators have had some time now to study him. They'll find out ways to shut him down, so he has to make sure he picks up his game another notch."

On whether Jackson will remain the team's punt returner: "He's still going to punt return as we sit here today."

On Reggie Brown's disappearance from the offense last season: "One of the unfortunate things in this business is -- it's a good thing, but also an unfortunate one -- when you get hurt and a young guy is playing well, then it's hard to get back in there. (Brown) came back and I moved him to X receiver spot, then he got banged up again ... and he just was going back and forth. Then Kevin came back and DeSean was playing well and I kind of just let it go at that. I tried to work Reggie in there. He's a competitive kid and he wants to be out there playing. Those aren't easy decisions from my side and I know it wasn't easy for him to accept that. He's got a lot of good football ahead of him. It's not that Reggie can't play. He's got to come in and play like the rest of them do. There's competition there. If somebody snoozes, then they're not going to be the one playing, whoever it is."

On the Wildcat formation: "We're not going to feature the Wildcat. I'll be curious to see what people do with it. I thought Miami had a pretty extensive package and I'm curious to see if they continue to expand that. What normally  happens is if the colleges are doing one thing and that's where the quarterbacks are coming from, it seems to me a pretty high percentage of the college teams are going to the spread offense. That's what you're bringing into the NFL and somewhere you have to explore that. We're going to let (Jon) Gruden explore that during his sabbatical ... and see how it fits into the NFL game."

On how the personnel decisions are made within the Eagles' organization: "Most GMs come to the head coach and talk to him about the players ... and I'm sure most GMs would say that if the head coach really didn't like the guy, they'd probably go in a different direction. I'm saying most. I'm not saying all of them. From my standpoint, I want to make sure I have a good GM, because I'm still involved in the football part of it. I want to have a good college director and a good pro director. I bank on those guys. Then you have to be able to tie the money side of it in and balance that.

"I have people who bring me that information and then we make our decisions more in a joint fashion than we do. It's not, 'I want this guy.' I want their opinions. If you don't share your opinions, that's when you're not here. I'm not sitting up there going, 'I'm the almighty that I know every player backward and forward and my opinion is the right opinion.' That's not how we go about that. I respect the guys that I hired and you have to because they're taking these huge numbers of players and whittling it down for you. There's no way that I can watch every guy who comes out in the draft. There's a process that you bring it down to a workable number and then we sit down and we go through it together and look at these guys. We have it set up now in the college game, where I have it right here on my computer at the hotel that I can click on and watch all the college guys. I'm mobile. And then I can talk to Tom about certain guys and I can crank out more guys than I used to be able to in certain situations."

On whether Reid makes the final call on all situations, including the decision to let safety Brian Dawkins leave via free agency: "Listen, we spend a lot of time together talking. I have a lot of respect for Joe Banner. In this day and age, you have to be smart. If you're going to sustain your program, you have to be smart. Put the whole Dawkins thing aside. You have to work together. It's not a situation where the front office hates the GM and the GM hates the money people and the head coach hates all of them. You can't do that. That's not how it is. Everybody has to work together to get this thing right. It's important that everybody is willing to do that. Joe and I meet every day. We talk every day about things. When we do something, we do it together. It's not Joe, it's not me. We do this thing together.

"Because he's the money guy -- and this has happened from Babe Ruth's time on -- he's always thrown under the bus. It's the craziest thing. He's never going to be the good guy. He's the good guy when he signs the huge player, but he's the bad guy the majority of the time. All these guys in this league, that's what happens. But we do it together. We talk things through and try to do things that are fair for the player and fair for us and then we move on. And we're very disciplined. We always try to be disciplined."

On whether the defense can be better even without Dawkins: "We will see. I'm not going to say anything that would slight Brian Dawkins. He's a great player and he's coming off a great year. But I will say that I think Brian was a good teacher also. I think it's important (to remember) that Quintin Demps is not Brian Dawkins, but he was able to see what Brian Dawkins did and now he went about his business. I think that was one reason why Quintin Demps had a chance to play last year and I think it's a great goal for Quintin Demps to shoot for. He should try to be as good as Brian was. To say he's there now, that's not fair because you're talking about one of the all-time greats.

"I think the linebackers have a chance to be even better. They're the same guys and they're getting another year older and they've had a chance to work together. And I think our defensive line is a very strong point. I think our secondary can be as solid as any secondary in the league and it's important that they are."

On whether second-year cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu can be the Eagles' fourth cornerback: "I'll tell you when we get into the minicamps. He's a phenomenal athlete and he's been going to all the meetings and doing all the stuff he was supposed to do, so we'll see how he handles the whole situation. I'll be watching."

On whether he'll promise that the team will make a first-round pick this year: "I want to maintain my flexibility."

Break scrambled eggs with Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh early in the morning and you come to this realization: It would be wonderful if he was providing the coaching quotes at the NovaCare Complex.

That's not to say that Harbaugh is a better head coach than Andy Reid. He'd have to lose four more AFC championship games and a Super Bowl to reach Reid's status, and that is meant as a compliment to the Eagles' coach.

Harbaugh just gets the media part of his business a lot better than Reid, and he's comfortable enough to have an open discussion about all sorts of different things.

Here are some interesting Eagles-related subjects Harbaugh discussed at breakfast this morning in the swanky St. Regis at Monarch Beach hotel:

Could you talk about Quintin Mikell?

"Quintin Mikell is a really good player. I don't know why he doesn't get recognized more. Everybody who plays against him thinks he's a really good player. He will hit you and he doesn't make mistakes and he covers ground."

Did Reid give his assistant coaches input into personnel decisions, especially during free agency and the draft?

"The coaches didn't make decisions, but he always listened to their input. You had to watch all the guys, rank them out and tell them what you thought. If you didn't want a returner or a corner, I don't think Andy was going to take him if the coaches didn't want him."

Is Reid stubborn?

"It's not stubborn if you're right. That's being convicted. I think he really listens a lot. To me, the perception that he doesn't listen to anybody is completely incorrect. Andy listens to his coaches, listens to his scouts and I think Tom (Heckert) has a ton of impact."

Why do members of Reid's coaching tree like Harbaugh and Minnesota's Brad Childress run the ball so much more after leaving the Eagles?

"I think you do whatever gives you the best chance to win. Last year, we ran the ball I think 60 percent of the time and that's what we had to do to be successful. We had a young offensive line and a young quarterback. But it is pretty good to be able to run the ball. We think running the ball and stopping the run is pretty important."

When you realized Donovan McNabb had been benched against you guys, was it a shock to you?

"I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about it, but Andy was doing something that he thought was best for the team. When you're a coach and you make a decision like that, there probably are a lot of things that are going on ... and for a lot of reasons, he did that at that time. It's hard to second guess because it turned out to be a great decision. Maybe it unified the team a little bit. Maybe it got Donovan's attention. Whatever the case, Andy had to do something and he did it and that was the right move."

How difficult of a situation was it for Kevin Kolb?

"He did pretty well actually. He moved them down the field on that one drive and then Ed Reed just made a ridiculous play -- an Ed Reed-type play -- and took it back 109 yards for a touchdown. I thought (Kolb) did pretty well when he was in there. All I know is I saw Kevin Kolb every day in practice for a year as the secondary coach when he was going against us as the scout-team quarterback and we'd get in the red zone and we couldn't defend him. I think he's a good player."

How will L.J. Smith fit in with the Ravens?

"I think he's really talented. For us to get a talented tight end like that in the place we got him in the second tier of free agency, even though it's only a one-year deal, we were willing to give him a one-year deal because it was fair to him. It gives him a chance to prove himself."

Why has Smith underachieved?

"The only guy who can pull him out of that is himself. I think the timing in his career is probably really right. Just in talking to him, he has a great perspective on it. He really wants it."

Do you think it helps him to get out of Philadelphia, where he was truly disliked by the fan base?

"It's pretty hard to over estimate the impact of something like that. That can bring a person down pretty quick."

Tra Thomas said Reid and the Eagles' coaching staff needs to be more fiery. Do you agree with that?

"Did anybody tell Tra Thomas he should show more emotion? Andy told Tra Thomas to let your personality show. Andy coaches to his personality and I guarantee you he coaches with plenty of personality and fire inside those four walls. Those players know what Andy is all about. For him to say that, I'd be surprised if that's what Tra meant."

THOUGHTS ON BUCKHALTER

Great to see that former Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter had his good name restored by the drug dealer who claimed he had sold him marijuana.

Of all the athletes I've ever covered, I never saw one who grew up and became more of a quality person than Buckhalter.

Our sister blog here at philly.com -- Eaglesomethingorotherian -- guaranteed yesterday that the Eagles will take a running back in the first round of the NFL draft and continued to trumpet the idea with support from ESPN analyst and former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski today.

Since blogs get buried under new blogs faster than newspapers get placed in the bird cage, there's really little risk in making a guarantee. Who'll remember what was written in Eaglesomethingorotherian a month from now?

To be clear, there's nothing guaranteed when it comes to the Eagles and draft days. Show me somebody who raised their hand when asked if they saw the Eagles trading out of the first round the last two years and I'll show you a liar.

The Eagles have never taken a running back higher than the third round during coach Andy Reid's tenure and it would not be surprising if they waited until after the first round to take one again.

Anything said about draft picks beforehand has to be measured with some level of skepticism, but given the Eagles' track record and the history of running backs, general manager Tom Heckert's words from the NFL owners meetings today were interesting.

"I think over time it has been proven that you can find backs later on," Heckert said. "We obviously haven't been great at it. We got Brian (Westbrook), but if you look around the league there are guys taken in the fourth and fifth round. I think it's probably an easier position to find than offensive tackle or defensive end, so those are the guys you better take early."

Now does that sound like a man in a hurry to use a first-round pick on a running back? And the point about good running backs being available in later rounds is a great one. What do Steve Slaton, Frank Gore, Marion Barber, Brandon Jacobs and Michael Turner all have in common? They were all taken in the third round or later.

That's not to say that the Eagles won't use a first-round pick on one of the top four projected running backs, a list that consists of Georgia's Knowshon Moreno, Ohio State's Chris Wells, Pitt's LeSean McCoy and UConn's Donald Brown.

Heckert likes them all, but he mentioned the first three as good fits for the Eagles because they also can catch the football.

"That's obviously a big thing for us," Heckert said.

So maybe the Eagles will take a running back in the first round and maybe they won't. If you're betting, go with offensive tackle, a position the organization believes is much more important.

During an interview on the Eagles' web site last week, coach Andy Reid said he liked his wide receivers, which no doubt drew a collective groan from a lot of fans.

Here's the thing to always remember about Reid: It's always about what he does and never about what he says.

This isn't the first time Reid has said he is happy with his receivers and it won't be the last. That doesn't mean the Eagles aren't going to make a play for another receiver this offseason and Reid has a point. The combination of DeSean Jackson, Kevin Curtis, Hank Baskett and Jason Avant isn't bad at all.

Reid's mantra, however, has always been that if he feels the Eagles can get better at a particular position, then they will at least try to do that.

The Eagles obviously didn't think T.J. Houshmanzadeh or any of the other free agent receivers represented enough of an upgrade to pursue.

Two receivers who could eventually be available on the trade market would represent significant upgrades. The one everybody is talking about is Anquan Boldin from the Arizona Cardinals. The other guy is Cleveland's Braylon Edwards. Mike Garafolo from the Newark Star Ledger and Ken Palmer of Scout.com have both reported that the New York Giants have made trade proposals for Edwards.

If I'm the Eagles, I'd get in on the Edwards action because he has the size and ability to be a difference maker. Yes, he led the league in drops last season, but that was with an awful Cleveland team. Put him on a contending Eagles team and he could have a T.O.-type year. We're talking about 2004 T.O., not the 2005 model.

There was a Condoleezza Rice sighting in the lobby of the posh St. Regis Hotel this afternoon, but Andy Reid and the other Eagles decision makers managed to make themselves invisible.

Rice, the country's former Secretary of State, arrived at the NFL owners meetings as a guest dinner speaker.

Former Eagles assistant John Harbaugh, now the Baltimore Ravens' coach, did stop to chat to reporters. Harbaugh said his former team is in good draft position with 12 picks and added that they can probably move into the top 10 if they choose to part with their two first-round selections, the 21st and 28th picks overall.

But the most interesting thing about the conversation was Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens pullover jacket. His official team attire also pointed out that the Ravens play in the AFC South, which would be fine if they weren't a member of the AFC North.

Weaver, who had spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks, received a one-year deal. Lewis said the deal could be worth as much as $2.5 million.

"I looked at Philly as a great opportunity to play for a team that really needed somebody at my position," Weaver said during a conference call today.

Though Weaver had targeted Philadelphia as the place he wanted to be even before the start of free agency, it took three weeks for him to sign and there was a time period where it looked as if he might go elsewhere.

"We had several teams after us, but my agent called me last night and said Philadelphia was ready to do it, so now I'm here and I'm excited about it," Weaver said.

Lewis said Weaver had also received interest and even multi-year offers from other teams. Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Houston and Seattle had all expressed interest, Lewis said, but the agent and Weaver decided the Eagles were the best fit.

"When you look at the Eagles' fullback situation, they haven't had a true fullback since Jon Ritchie," Lewis said. "Leonard is not a one-dimensional fullback. He's a guy who can catch the ball, run the ball and block. He's a perfect fit for that offense. This is a team that was one game away from playing in the Super Bowl and a guy like Leonard might make the difference. That's why he chose Philadelphia."

Lewis said the hope is that Weaver, 26, will perform so well  that the Eagles will want to extend his contract by the middle of next season.

"Once they see what they have, I think they'll want the opportunity to sign him to a long-term deal and, if not, he'll be a free agent again," Lewis said. "But I believe he'll be buying a home in Philadelphia. He's a solid, solid football player."

Lewis had 80 career carries 356 yards and one touchdowns in three seasons with the Seahawks. He missed the 2006 season because of injury. He also has 60 career catches for 547 yards and two touchdowns.

"I felt like ever since I came into the league I was an offensive weapon," Weaver said. "I pride myself on  being versatile."

Weaver said he felt that versatility may have hurt him on the free-agent market because teams didn't know whether the 6-foot, 242-pounder was a fullback or a running back.

"I call myself a fullback," Weaver said. "I'm a guy who can block. I can go into a hole and hit people and I can go into a hole and run the football. I'm going to come in and do what they ask me to do. I'm looking to come in and lead block and open up some holes for (Brian) Westbrook. If they decide to give me the ball, that's a blessing. If not, you won't hear a word come out of my mouth."

Poll: Will Weaver make a significant difference in the Eagles' offense? (1248 votes)

The transcript of Eagles web site director Dave Spadaro's interview with head coach Andy Reid has been up all morning on philadelphiaeagles.com. Now, the video from that interview has also been posted.

If you don't have time to watch it, here's the best part: Spadaro previews his interview by saying the first line of questioning focuses on the safety position in general and Brian Dawkins' departure in particular.

With the anticipation of seeing Reid building, we first get a promotional advertisement with video of the cheerleader tryouts. Apparently there aren't many seats left for the final round of cheerleader tryouts at the Prince Theater, but you can get some without buying a personal seat license. The cheerleaders appeared to be in midseason form even though it's only March and the final draft hasn't taken place.

"They did a nice job with that," Reid might have said.

Anyway, here's some other information you won't find on the Eagles' web site.

It has been reported in several places, including by our fierce blog competitor Eagleterian, that the Eagles signed cornerback Joselio Hanson to a five-year, $21 million deal.

Apparently former Eagles special teams coordinator John Harbaugh might be interested in giving free agent tight end L.J. Smith a new lease on life in Baltimore.

Harbaugh, who took the Ravens to the AFC championship game in his first season as the team's head coach, has invited Smith for a visit and the tight end happily accepted, according to a report by Jaminson Hensley of the Baltimore Sun.

The Ravens' invitation comes one day after the Atlanta Falcons broke off negotiations with Smith, who had spent his first six NFL seasons with the Eagles. Smith has also visited with Detroit, but you have to believe he'd much rather play for Harbaugh and the Ravens than a team that went 0-16 last season.

In other news, Harold Lewis, the agent for free agent fullback Leonard Weaver, finally responded to an e-mail from the Inquirer today, but there was no more evidence that his client was close to signing with the Eagles. Asked if he had any recent conversations with the Eagles about Weaver, Lewis said, "Not with Philly today." A team source said the Eagles have gone a while now without having any conversatioins with Lewis.