Some interesting NFC East-related links to pass along this Thursday afternoon.

Let's start with the Cowboys.

Former Dallas LB/DE Greg Ellis, now with the Raiders, sounded off on Michael Irvin's radio show about his diminished playing time last season. He said teammate DeMarcus Ware would actually come out of the game and hide so that Ellis could get back on the field.

“It’s a disgrace but Demarcus Ware comes off the field just so I can get in the game and the coaches tell him to come on the field," Ellis said, per sportsradiointerviews.com. "He tries to hide so I can play. You tell me we’re trying to win a Super Bowl. Guys don’t buy into that and I can’t be a leader if you play me that way. Guys are not going to receive what I’m saying when I’m stuck on the bench and I understand that from guys.”

It's times like these you appreciate having Andy Reid as your head coach, Philadelphia.

Ellis continued:

“On his own, he would say, 'G, come on,' and I would tell him, 'No, Marcus. Go ahead man, you’re coming up on your contract, don’t mess this up. You go ahead and be you and we’re just going to do what the coaches they want to do, that’s what we’re going to do.' ”

Too good. My favorite part is that he he said he brought up Ware's contract in between plays when the defense was on the field. Priceless.

Ware was asked about Ellis' comments on SIRIUS NFL Radio's "The Opening Drive" with Bob Papa and Randy Cross. Here's part of what he said, per ESPN.com's Matt Mosley:

"Yeah, and that's the same thing like I was saying like sometimes guys, if you leave it up to the players, they're like, 'OK, I don't want to go out any plays. I want to try to make every play.' But a team player is going to say, 'OK, I'm tired right now. I can't give you anything else. Could you put this guy in?' And this next guy is going to come in here and he's going to make the plays that I should be making at full steam ahead or whatever. So I just think that then once you go back in there, you're fresh, you're fresh and you're back going again. So you gotta have that rest throughout the whole game. Got to.”

I'm reminded of that famous NFL Films clip from the Rams-Titans Super Bowl where Dick Vermeil couldn't believe that Kevin Carter was asking out of the game on Tennessee's final drive.

Not sure Ware's explanation would fly here in Philadelphia. I'm not sure it's going to get rave reviews in Dallas either for that matter.

Meanwhile, Brandon Jacobs had some interesting things to say about Tony Romo on his radio show with 1050 ESPN's Brandon Tierney.

"I'm not a fan of Tony Romo, no. Keep him in the pocket, he's not that good..." Jacobs said, per New York Daily News writer Ralph Vacchiano's Twitter.

Jacobs went on:

"His luck will be gone sooner or later. If you were to keep Tony Romo in the pocket he's not that effective. ...

"I don't think he's that good a passer, to be honest with you."

Jacobs will have a weekly radio show on Mondays during the season. We'll be sure to listen, particularly on the weeks leading up to the Giants-Eagles matchups.

Earlier in the offseason, Jacobs predicted that the Giants would win 13 games, and he spoke about the "bad, bitter, disgusting taste" he had after losing to the Eagles in the divisional round last season.

Since the Eagles hired Andrew Brandt as a consultant for player contract negotiations and salary cap management back in February, his name has only appeared on philly.com six times.

In April, when Sheldon Brown was voicing his displeasure, he said the Eagles told him to deal with Brandt.

"They disrespected my agent, in my eyes, first by [Joe Banner saying he was unaware of an issue], then by having my agent deal with some guy I've never even met," he told the Daily News at the time.

Leonard Weaver's agent, Harold Lewis, spoke favorably about working with Brandt and getting the fullback to sign with the Eagles.

"I was looking at a three-horse race with Seattle, Tampa Bay and Houston," Lewis told the Daily News in March. "Then I got a call from Andrew Brandt. We started goofing around . . . and shortened the gap."

So who cares, and why am I writing about this in mid-July?

Because we don't know too much about Brandt in terms of his exact role in the Eagles' organization.

But we do know he is the president and founder of nationalfootballpost.com. And last week, he wrote an interesting piece detailing his philosophy for building a winning team, the basic premise being that spending big and winning big are not directly related.

It's an interesting read for several reasons.

One, we complain all the time about the Eagles' organization being tight-lipped and not explaining their decisions to the media and the fan base. Here you have a consultant for the organization, who has been directly involved in contract negotiations, explaining the way he thinks.

Can you imagine Andy Reid or Joe Banner writing 1,087 words describing what they think the right way is to build a football team?

And number two, you see exactly why the Eagles brought Brandt in. Check out this passage from his column:

The lack of correlation between winning and spending is not a novel concept and one that has been proven for years. The proper way to build success in the NFL is to assemble and develop young talent that proves worthy of core contract extensions, ensuring continuity of key players at key positions on the roster. Selective and targeted acquisition of free agents is necessary to complement the existing talent base. However, continued spending on free agents, driving up player costs and pushing out players who have been coached and developed, is not a sound way to put together a team.

Might as well have been written by Banner, right?

Jason La Canfora of NFL.com wrote last month that the Eagles ranked 20th in terms of cash spending. Brandt said his numbers are "slightly different" but he agreed with the premise that cash spending, not cap spending should be the focus when looking at how much teams are actually paying players:

One of the biggest misperceptions that fans have about teams’ willingness to spend is that if they have a lot of cap room, they are not spending. That can be very far from the truth. A well-managed cap with plenty of room can coincide with having spent liberally to improve. I know that firsthand.

Anyway, check out the column if you have a chance, and let me know what you think about Brandt's philosophy in the comments below.

The trial for Eagles cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu is on hold as prosecutors call an out-of-state witness to the stand, according to the Daily Chronicle.

As you undoubtedly know by now, Ikegwuonu was charged with residential burglary and criminal trespassing for allegedly breaking into a DeKalb, Illinois townhouse with his brother and possibly attempting to steal an Xbox.

DeKalb County Assistant State’s Attorney Victor Escarcida said the trial is scheduled to resume July 16 at 10 a.m. when a former tenant of the townhouse will arrive from California.

Per the report, two witnesses were called to the stand yesterday -- the Police Sgt. who fingerprinted the scene and a fingerprint examiner. The prints from the Ikegwuonu brothers and prints from the Xbox could not be compared because of environmental factors like dust or wind.

"The (fingerprint) lifts contained did not have significant characteristics that would allow me to compare them to the cards," said fingerprint examiner Edward Rottman, according to the article.

So no more Ikegwuonu updates until next week it looks like.

For our post last night updating Jon Runyan's rehab, click here.

It's funny (and probably sad) how often ideas for MTC pop into my head.

I was in the 12 items or less line at the Columbus Boulevard Wal-Mart tonight and realized I was going to be waiting for awhile to pay for my Soft Batch cookies, Right Guard deodorant and other assorted items.

So I took out my Blackberry to check on the Phils and then jumped on Twitter to see that PFT had posted an item on Jon Runyan.

And that's when I remembered I meant to write about Runyan earlier today.

Better late than never, right?

The veteran offensive lineman was on WIP yesterday with Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano to discuss the death of his former teammate, Steve McNair.

But near the end of the interview, he provided an injury/rehab update.

"I'm doing well, haven't had any setbacks," Runyan said, adding that the doctor told him to ramp up his activity before seeing him again in about four weeks.

Runyan said he's right on pace and was told he won't miss any of the season.

But has he heard from any teams?

"I hear from teams occasionally, but it's more of a 'When are you gonna be ready?' And I'm like 'I'll call you when I'm ready,'" he said.

Gargano suggested half-jokingly that he'd probably be 'ready' as soon as training camp was over.

"Probably exactly that day," Runyan said.

When asked if he had any desire to be in Lehigh in August, the 14-year veteran responded, "Why? Do you have a desire to go up there and broadcast?"

So it appears he'll continue to rehab, see how injuries and contract squabbles play out during training camp and then hopefully join a team in mid-to-late August.

In case you missed it earlier, we wrote about the league suspending Giants LB Michael Boley for one game.

The NFL has suspended Giants linebacker Michael Boley for one game for violating the league's Personal Conduct Policy.

I first saw the story from Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News via Twitter.

It's been a rough start as a Giant for Boley, who signed a five-year, $25 million deal in the offseason. In June, he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum on his hip. At the time of the procedure, the Giants announced he would miss eight-to-10 weeks, which would likely mean all of training camp.

A source tells Vacchiano that the suspension stems from a May 2008 incident when Boley was still with the Falcons. Per the report, Boley allegedly pushed his wife against a wall, threw her over a couch, and shoved her into a kitchen cabinet door.

The Giants open the season at home against the Redskins. Boley will be eligible to return to game action in Week 2 at the Cowboys. In case you were wondering, the Eagles and Giants don't square off until Week 8.

According to Adam Schefter (now with ESPN), the Giants knew this was coming when they signed him.

As Vacchiano points out, it's unclear why Boley has been suspended 14 months after the incident occurred.

More later.

A bench trial for Eagles cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu is under way.

Ikegwuonu was charged with residential burglary and criminal trespassing for allegedly breaking into a DeKalb, Illinois townhouse with his brother and possibly attempting to steal an Xbox.

His brother, Bill, was found not guilty in April.

Jack Ikegwuonu waived his right to a jury trial.

“It is the defendant’s choice whether to waive a jury trial,” prosecutor Julie Trevarthen told the Daily Chronicle. “He is entitled to make that decision, and he decided this morning.”

Per the article, a police officer testified Monday, saying the brothers were questioned separately four times and gave a different version of their stories each time.

Ikegwuonu's attorney told the judge that the brothers were looking for a party at the time of the incident.

Michael Britton, one of the residents at the townhouse, said no party was planned, and the brothers were not invited there.

The Eagles selected Ikegwuonu in the fourth round (131st overall) of the 2008 draft.

The trial is scheduled to resume today at 10 a.m. I'll try to keep my eye on the reports and update the details as necessary.

Since the Phils game ended at about 7:45, I thought I'd take some time to pass along some Eagles links this evening.

Where to begin?

** How about this one from Bleeding Green Nation? Philly's own Kyle Eckel apparently interned for the Preston and Steve Show on WMMR. What exactly did that entail? How about getting hammered on air? The Eagles' fullback played some beer pong, was asked embarassing questions and did his best impression of Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. I thought of embedding the YouTube video, but we like to consider ourselves a PG blog here at MTC so click on the link to check Eckel out. Warning that there are parts of the video probably not suitable for kids or for those of you reading at work.

** NFL.com's Bucky Brooks names Brian Westbrook the fifth-best running back in the NFL:

An absolute terror since assuming the role as Philadelphia's featured back in 2004, Westbrook has amassed 8,106 yards from scrimmage in that span, which ranks as the second-best total in the league. Moreover, Westbrook's exceptional skills as a runner/receiver have made him the league's premier all-around back. Though his expansive role has resulted in numerous nagging injuries, Westbrook's continual dominance as a dual threat make him worthy of inclusion on this list.

** ESPN.com's Matt Mosley says rookie LeSean McCoy has a chance to be the NFC East's breakout player this season:

I know. I know. It's sort of easy to pick young running backs, but I really think McCoy will make an immediate and significant impact. And more importantly, his presence will make Brian Westbrook more effective. I could see McCoy rushing for 750 yards and catching 35-40 passes.

** CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco ranks Westbrook the No. 5 running back in the league. Of course, Prisco called Westbrook the most overrated Eagle in an earlier post, so not sure what to make of this one.

** NFL.com's Bucky Brooks calls Asante Samuel the third-best corner in the league:

The big-play specialist has ascended to the top of the cornerback charts because of his outstanding ball skills and awareness. The two-time Pro Bowler has an uncanny ability to read routes, and his exceptional instincts have netted him 20 interceptions over the past three seasons. Playing in an aggressive zone-blitz scheme that ideally suits his game, Samuel is poised to continue his bandit-like ways and remain worthy of consideration as one of the league's best cover men.

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Update (5:40 p.m.)

Details continue to emerge surrounding the death of Steve McNair.

Police spokesman Don Aaron tells The Tennessean that the gun found on the scene where McNair and 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi were found dead was the one purchased by Kazemi on Thursday night.

“We believe the pistol recovered from the apartment was purchased by Kazemi,” Aaron told The Tennessean.

Kazemi had been arrested for a DUI Thursday night. Per the report, she purchased the gun some time after the DUI arrest.

I'll try to keep updating this post tonight as more details unfold.

From earlier:

Sahel Kazemi, the 20-year-old woman who was found dead along with Steve McNair Saturday afternoon, recently purchased a gun, according to the Associated Press.

The new detail is based on comments made by Kazemi's nephew, 27-year-old Farzin Abdi.

Per the report, Abdi said he was told by Nashville police that Kazemi recently purchased a gun, and they are almost sure she was the shooter.

Abdi, who was reportedly like a brother to Kazemi, said he did not believe she killed McNair.

"There was no way she was depressed and wanting to do this," he told the AP. "She was so happy. ... She just had it made, you know, (with) this guy taking care of everything."

Abdi also said Kazemi believed McNair was divorcing his wife.

Meanwhile, McNair's wife Mechelle may have only learned about the affair after he was killed on Saturday, according to the New York Daily News.

Update (2:20 p.m.)

When Donovan McNabb was a rookie with the Eagles in 1999, Steve McNair was leading the Tennessee Titans to the Super Bowl.

Today, the Eagles' quarterback reacted to the stunning news od McNair's death.

"Shocking. Tragic. I can't find many other words to describe what happened to Steve McNair," McNabb said, according to the team's Web site. "He was a good friend to me over the years. My condolences go out to his family."

From earlier:

We'll use this space today to get caught up on more of the details surrounding Steve McNair's death, which shocked the football world Saturday afternoon.

** The woman who was found dead from a single gunshot wound to the head was 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi. According to several published reports, the gun was found near Kazemi's body. The pair was involved in a DUI traffic stop on Thursday, according to the Nashville City Paper. Kazemi had been pulled over while driving an SUV registered to both her and McNair. Per the report, McNair had been approached and threatened at a Nashville restaurant on Friday evening.

** McNair is survived by his wife MeChelle and four sons.

** The Tennessean is calling the death an "apparent murder-suicide" and reports that McNair and Kazemi had been dating for months. According to the article, Kazemi told police she was high and not drunk when they stopped her on Thursday.

** The Tennessean also reports that Wayne Neely, a longtime friend of McNair, found the bodies shortly after 1 p.m.

** Jeff Fisher, visiting troops in the Persian Gulf, talked to The Tennessean about McNair's death:

"I am deeply saddened and at this point do not have the words to describe this loss," Fisher said. “It is an extremely emotional moment and I don’t have the words to explain how I am feeling. I ask people to please pray for Mechelle and the entire McNair family. This is a tragic moment for his family, and it is a tragic moment for anyone who knew and loved Steve."

** Good, succinct commentary by Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle:

I don’t know what happened to McNair. I don’t know the circumstances of his death. I just know there are layers to all of us, that none of us is perfect, that it’s foolish to paint someone with a single brush. I also know Steve McNair cared about people and performed brilliantly and courageously on the football field. In the ways we should measure a professional athlete, there were few better than McNair. I know he touched a lot of people in the right way, and today their hearts are breaking.

** Redskins quarteback Jason Campbell, also a Mississipi native, had this to say about McNair, according to The Washington Post:

"The whole black quarterback thing, it's like a fraternity," Campbell said. "Guys who played before you pass the torch down to younger guys. You always keep in contact with those guys who came before you. You try to keep in contact with them and learn as much as possible from them. Losing a guy like that from our fraternity ... it hurts because of how much you looked up to him. He's definitely one of the guys I looked up to. A lot of other guys looked up to him to. It's just a real hard day."

I remember being in Baltimore when the Ravens acquired McNair. A team with a top-notch defense that was looking to fill the void at QB. I was at Camden Yards when he threw out the first pitch at an Orioles game and was introduced to the Baltimore fans. He led the Ravens to a 13-3 record in his first season before they fell to the Colts in the playoffs.

As I said yesterday, feel free to share your thoughts and memories of McNair, or pass along good links that I might have missed.