Michael Vick's camp and Nike seem to have different views of his supposed endorsement deal with the company. (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)

Yesterday, reports surfaced that Michael Vick had his first endorsement deal since returning to the NFL.

Vick's agent, Joel Segal, told the Inquirer's Mike Jensen that the Eagles' quarterback was "looking forward to working with Nike" again.

Meanwhile, at a conference in New York, Mike Principe, the managing director of BEST (a sports marketing and promotion company that represents Vick) reportedly announced that the Eagles' quarterback was back with Nike.

However, this morning, while it appears there is some type of agreement, it's not exactly what you might have thought when the news was first reported.

CNBC's Darren Rovell got comment from a Nike spokesman, who said on the record that the company has no contractual agreement with Vick, only that it would provide him with free product.

“Nike does not have a contractual relationship with Michael Vick," spokesman Kejuan Wilkins said in a statement to Rovell. "We have agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike.”

Not exactly what was announced by Vick's camp.

In other news, ex-Eagle Hollis Thomas has signed with the Carolina Panthers, according to a report by the Associated Press. The Eagles worked out Thomas in the offseason, but he ended up signing with the Rams. St. Louis released him after Thomas saw a reserve role in its first three games.

More later, including a national media links roundup, which we haven't done in awhile.

Time for our weekly breakdown of the Eagles' penalties.

Through three weeks, the Birds are tied for 12th in penalties (19) and 20th in penalty yards (141).

Against the Chiefs, they had just three penalties for 20 yards, a huge improvement from the previous week against the Saints.

The bad news? Two of those penalties came on special teams.

Three offensive linemen -- Winston Justice, Max Jean-Gilles, and Jamaal Jackson are penalty-free through three weeks. That's particularly impressive for Justice, who is in his first season as a starter at the right tackle position.

The Eagles' offense went penalty-free against the Chiefs.

Here's a look at where the flags have been thrown through three games:

Number of penalties

Jason Peters - 2
DeSean Jackson - 2
Nick Cole - 2
Stacy Andrews - 2
Juqua Parker - 1
Quintin Demps - 1
Sean Jones - 1
Chris Clemons - 1
Joselio Hanson - 1
Leonard Weaver - 1
Tracy White - 1
Darren Howard - 1
Moise Fokou - 1
Eldra Buckley - 1

Note: The Eagles' defense was called for an offsides in Week 1 (officially 6 yards), but it was not attributed to any one player. Also, penalties that were declined were not included in the breakdown.

Penalty yards

D. Jackson - 20
Parker - 15
Demps - 15
Clemons - 11
Peters - 10
Andrews - 10
Fokou - 10
Cole - 10
Jones - 10
White - 6
Hanson - 5
Howard - 5
Buckley - 5
Weaver - 3

By unit

Offense - 8 for 50
Defense - 3 for 26
Special teams - 8 for 65

The Eagles have signed linebacker Jeremiah Trotter to a third tour of duty in Philadelphia. (File photo)

The unpredictable 2009 season for your Philadelphia Eagles took another turn today when the team brought back 32-year-old veteran linebacker Jeremiah Trotter.

The Birds now have seven linebackers on the roster. Here's a quick breakdown of what we've seen from each so far, and what we might expect going forward:

Omar Gaither - The Eagles' starting MLB has had two good games, and one not-so-good game. The opponent certainly had a lot to do with it. Gaither was strong against the run in Week 1 against the Panthers and Sunday against the Chiefs. He struggled in Week 2 against the Saints. How much will the addition of Trotter affect his role in the middle? Gaither has been a three-down linebacker up to this point and is probably the most vocal member of the Eagles' defense.

Chris Gocong - He hasn't been much of a factor through three games. Gocong made a few plays in Week 1 but has not been heard from since. I know we've been saying this for three years now, but it seems like the Eagles still have not figured out how to properly use Gocong. There's no real competition at the strong-side spot. Barring injury, he'll be there the rest of the way. Perhaps Sean McDermott can cook comething up to better utilize him.

Akeem Jordan - I questioned whether the defense had enough playmakers during the preseason. Jordan sure looks like he could be one of those guys through three games. A sack and two interceptions. Jordan's a very active player who looks like he has a bright future. He'll start at the weakside spot the rest of the way.

Tracy White - In his eighth season, I fully expected White to be a special teams player and nothing more. But Sunday against the Chiefs, he replaced Jordan in the Eagles' nickel package, playing alongside Gaither. Hopefully McDermott will shed more light on that decision the next time he speaks with the media, but it appears that White could play a bigger role going forward.

Jeremiah Trotter - Let's take a shot at speculating what kind of role he might play. Trotter said Andy Reid didn't bring him in to just play special teams. But what exactly does that mean? We know he'll bring leadership and toughness. Those are good things, but not tangible things. We know they don't want to see Trotter lined up against running backs and tight ends in coverage. Beyond that, who knows? Maybe he comes into the game on obvious running downs -- goal line, short yardage, etc. We'll just have to wait for the Week 5 game against the Bucs. All I know is that if I told you a year ago that the 2009 Eagles' roster would have the names Trotter and Vick and would be without the name Dawkins, you would have taken away my blogging privileges and cited insanity. For what it's worth, Trotter is listed as the third-string middle linebacker on the unofficial depth chart on the team's Web site.

Moise Fokou - A nice find for the Eagles in the seventh round, but it doesn't appear he'll be much of a factor as a rookie. However, if the Eagles suffer injuries, particularly to Gocong, Fokou could see the field.

Joe Mays - It seems like years ago when he was the projected middle linebacker. Mays got the reps there in camp and had a chance to win the job in the preseason, but didn't do enough. He was banged-up and missed the Eagles' first two games. Mays was only in on special teams and garbage time Sunday against the Chiefs. His role becomes even more uncertain with the addition of Trotter.

The Eagles' defense had their way with the Chiefs in Sunday's win. (Yong Kim / Staff Photographer)

Thanks for all the kind words on yesterday's Man Up on the Eagles' offense.

Today we do the defense.

Juqua Parker - He brought down Matt Cassel during the Chiefs’ first drive, the second game in a row he's had a sack. Great hustle by Parker in the fourth quarter to run from his position at defensive end to the sideline and tackle wide receiver Mark Bradley, who had shaken free of Asante Samuel for a 5-yard gain.

Victor Abiamiri - He split time with Parker at defensive end and moved inside in nickel situations. Abiamiri did a better job against the run after the Saints really targeted his side a week ago.

Chris Clemons - He was credited with half a sack at the end of the first half.

Mike Patterson - I'll be honest. I re-watched every defensive snap and did not write down his name once. That doesn't mean Patterson played poorly. His job is to stuff the middle and create disruption. The Eagles' defense shut down Larry Johnson and company for most of the game even though Patterson finished without a tackle.

Broderick Bunkley - Alongside Patterson, Bunkley had a very strong game. He stuffed Johnson for a loss in the first quarter and also got to Cassel on a quarterback draw on third down in the third quarter.

Trent Cole - He was credited with half a sack at the end of the first half. Against the run, he did a good job throughout, finishing with eight tackles. On one play in the third quarter, Cole stuffed Johnson for no gain. He was fooled on the 22-yard end around to Bradley in the second half.

Darren Howard - He got to Cassel and batted down a pass at the end of the first half. Howard easily could have received credit on the Eagles' group sack at the end of the first half. He lined up inside and got good pressure to force a rushed throw by Cassel in the third. He saw more time than usual at defensive end in place of Cole. On one play there in the third, he was moved aside on a 5-yard Johnson run.

Chris Gocong - He really wasn't very noticeable. Gocong was one of several Eagles who stuffed Johnson on the first play of the second half. He also had a hand in stopping Johnson for no gain in the fourth.

Omar Gaither - He may have been the best player on defense Sunday. Gaither led the Eagles with nine tackles, and it seemed like he had twice that many when I re-watched the game. Gaither was sensational against the run. He made a good read and tackle to stuff Johnson on a 1-yard run in the first quarter. One play later, he dropped him for a 4-yard loss. As a blitzer, he came up the middle once and forced a Cassel incompletion. Gaither was also credited with a sack.

Akeem Jordan - A pretty quiet game for Jordan after he was one of the only Eagles defenders to make plays against the Saints. He stopped Johnson on the Chiefs' first drive and finished with four tackles.

Tracy White - It seemed like he was on the field more in the nickel package with Gaither. White came up the middle on a blitz in the second quarter and forced a Cassel incompletion.

Asante Samuel - The Chiefs stayed away from him for most of the game. They did target him on a couple wide receiver screens, and he tackled better than in Week 2, but still missed one against Bradley.

Sheldon Brown - He made a good tackle on Bradley on third down on the Chiefs' second drive to force a punt. He also made the key third-down tackle on the following drive. It was a great effort play. Brown dove at the feet of running back Jamaal Charles at first but couldn't bring him down. Brown gave a great second effort and wrapped up the running back to force the punt. He did miss one tackle on Johnson's 14-yard run in the third quarter.

Joselio Hanson - He came on a blitz and met Bunkley to stuff Johnson for a loss in the first. Was not called on to make any plays in the passing game.

Ellis Hobbs - Bradley made a play over him for the Chiefs’ second-quarter touchdown. Hobbs' coverage was good, but Bradley fought to snatch the ball over him. Hobbs was in on that entire drive, replacing Brown. He couldn’t shed Terrance Copper on Bradley's 22-yard end around in the third. Hobbs made a nice play against the run, tripping Johnson up for no gain in the fourth quarter.

Quintin Mikell - He made a good tackle in coverage, stopping tight end Sean Ryan after a gain of 3 in the second quarter. He tripped up Ryan from behind later in the game after a 4-yard gain. Mikell also did a good job to catch up with Bradley on the 22-yard end around in the third. He missed a tackle on the 14-yard Johnson run in the third.

Macho Harris - Another quiet game from the rookie. As I've said in previous weeks, he's not making a lot of plays, but he's not really hurting the Eagles either. Harris made a good solo tackle of Charles on a 6-yard gain in the second quarter.

Sean Jones - He saw the field during garbage time. It looked like he may have been matched up with wide receiver Bobby Wade on the fourth-quarter TD, but tough to know for sure from the TV angle.

Other notes:

** Trevor Laws and Antonio Dixon were rotated in at the defensive tackle spots quite a bit.
** Teams are not having success running at Cole.
** This is probably overly simplified, but if I'm an offensive coordinator and I have a physical wide receiver matched up with Asante Samuel, I'm throwing screens his direction all day.
** Linebackers Joe Mays and Moises Fokou got on the field during the Chiefs' final drive.
** Last week, some of you thought the Saints shouldn't have blitzed on the Eagles' final drive since they were up big. Well, I doubt Sean McDermott had a problem with it. He sent guys with 2:25 left when the Eagles were up, 34-7.

View gallery

Here's my player-by-player rundown of the Eagles' offense after re-watching the win over the Chiefs.

And for those of you dying for my Monday night pick (hey, we were 10-5 this week against the spread), I'll take the Panthers (+8.5) to cover at the Cowboys.

And now, the breakdown:

Kevin Kolb - The numbers were great: 24-for-34 for 327 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kolb did a nice job of fitting the ball in between two defenders on the 64-yard touchdown to DeSean Jackson. Overall, he showed the ability to hit receivers in stride and allow for big-time yards after the catch, specifically on throws to Jackson and Brent Celek. Kolb did not turn the ball over, but he could have easily been intercepted twice -- once on a throw intended for Jeremy Maclin in the second quarter and another time on a ball that was dropped by linebacker Mike Vrabel in the third. If you want to nitpick, he threw behind Jason Avant down near the goal line, misfired on a slant to Celek and overthrew Jackson in the end zone. Overall though, he looks like he can make all the throws and has the respect of his teammates. Definitely an encouraging performance.

Michael Vick - He looked indecisive and uncomfortable on the two plays where the Eagles asked him to throw the ball. Part of that is probably play design, and part of that is Vick. His most positive play was a 7-yard run out of the Wildcat in the first quarter. Vick also made a good decision, drawing a defender and tossing the ball to LeSean McCoy for a 5-yard gain in the third.

Leonard Weaver - He had a pair of catches for 14 yards. The Eagles had a chance to use him in short yardage, but chose not to. Weaver had a nice block on Tamba Hali on a Wildcat run to Maclin in the second quarter. His best block of the day came in the fourth when he cleared the way for a 15-yard McCoy run.

LeSean McCoy - Twenty carries for 84 yards and a touchdown. The highlight was his juke on Chiefs DB Brandon Flowers for a 14-yard gain in the first quarter. McCoy showed good toughness on the touchdown run, absorbing contact at the 3, staying on his feet, spinning and crossing the goal line. On the blocking front, he had his ups and downs. McCoy missed a blitzer on the Eagles’ second drive, and the cornerback deflected Kolb's pass for an incompletion. It was more a matter of McCoy's read and decision than his execution. He probably got away with a hold on a 13-yard pass to Celek in the third. On the plus side, McCoy picked up a blitzer to give Kolb time on the 43-yard pass to Jackson in the first. The effort is there, and McCoy has the ability to block. I fully expect him to continue to improve here the more he gets on the field. I'm still a little concerned with how he carries the ball. It was away from his body on a 3-yard Wildcat run late in the first half.

Eldra Buckley - He was active for the first time all season and got in the books with a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Winston Justice - Another encouraging performance. He was matched up with linebacker Mike Vrabel on several plays and kept him away from Kolb. Justice actually lined up at left tackle on McCoy’s 8-yard run out of the Wildcat in the first quarter, helping to open up the hole. He had some trouble with Tyson Jackson on a run play to McCoy that was stuffed in the second quarter. And Justice allowed Vrabel to get past him for sack, but the play was called back because of a Chiefs penalty. Overall, he's showing he can start in this league.

Max Jean-Gilles - He showed more athleticism this week than last week. Nice job on Vick's first run (7 yards) out of the Wildcat. He was asked to pull on a couple plays and did an excellent job -- once on an 8-yard gain by McCoy out of the Wildcat and another time on a 4-yard McCoy run. Jean-Gilles also opened up a hole up the middle on an 11-yard gain by McCoy. In terms of pass protection, the Eagles' interior did not allow Chiefs defenders to get anywhere near Kolb.

Stacy Andrews - Unlike Week 2, he actually saw the field in this one, although he wasn't out there for a ton of snaps. Andrews helped open up the hole on McCoy’s touchdown run. He replaced Jean-Gilles during the first drive of the second half and opened up a nice hole on a 4-yard run by McCoy. Andrews was also in the game on the final drive in the fourth.

Jamaal Jackson - He had a nice block on Vick’s 7-yard Wildcat run and also did a good job on McCoy's 15-yard gain in the fourth quarter. Jackson had trouble with DT Ron Edwards in the second, allowing him to push through the line and limit McCoy to a 1-yard run.

Nick Cole - He opened up a hole for McCoy's 11-yard gain in the first quarter and also cleared the way for a 5-yard McCoy run late in the first half. Cole got beat by Edwards on a pass play in the second quarter, but Kolb got rid of the ball and completed a 9-yard pass to Weaver. Probably the only time all day an interior lineman got beat in pass protection. He was also in on the 15-yard McCoy run in the fourth.

Jason Peters - He was probably the most impressive lineman Sunday. Peters was lined up against DE Tamba Hali several times and did not let the Penn State product get anywhere near Kolb. He moved linebacker Demorrio Williams out of the way on McCoy's TD run. Peters also opened up a nice hole on a 3-yard McCoy run in the fourth quarter. Consistent play all the way through from him.

Brent Celek - Another outstanding performance: eight catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Along with his good hands, Celek's toughness is what has really stood out through three games. He absorbed a huge hit from Williams down near the goal line in the first quarter but held on for an 8-yard gain. He dragged Williams with him for a couple yards after making a catch in the second quarter. He lined up all over the place -- as a traditional tight end, in the slot and even out wide. As a blocker, Celek had some good battles with Vrabel. He did a good job during Vick’s 7-yard Wildcat run. He also cleared space for McCoy on a 3-yard run late in the first half and a 4-yard run in the third quarter. Vrabel got the best of him in the second, stuffing McCoy for no gain. He's definitely showing improvement here.

Alex Smith - He did not have a catch, but was in as a blocker on McCoy’s 14-yard run in the first quarter.

DeSean Jackson - I did an entire post on him yesterday. We saw this coming during training camp: Jackson is taking another huge step this season. He set a career high with 149 yards on six catches. Great football IQ, as they say. He knows when to go down and how to avoid big hits. He also knows when to turn on the jets for a big play. Jackson piled up about 27 yards after catch on 43-yard gain in first quarter. And of course about 58 of the 64 yards on the touchdown were after the catch. If you want to nitpick, he had a couple lapses as a blocker, specifically on the Wildcat handoff to Jeremy Maclin in the second quarter. What's that you say? You're OK with that? I figured as much.

Jeremy Maclin - The rookie got his first start and had the expected ups and downs. Overall, four catches for 33 yards, but nothing really going down the field. He and Kolb were not on the same page on a couple plays --  one in the second quarter that nearly resulted in an interception, and another in the third where he appeared to be wide open for a big gain, but Kolb threw to his inside. Maclin did a good job of getting both feet in bounds on an 11-yard gain near the sideline in the third quarter. Poor job blocking on what could have been a big run by McCoy to the outside in the fourth.

Jason Avant - He had a pair of catches for 14 yards. One was a third-down conversion, where Avant picked up 10 on 3rd-and-6 in the first quarter. He fumbled on the play, but luckily it rolled out of bounds.

Reggie Brown - He saw his first game action since the divisional round of last year's playoffs. One catch for 4 yards, and a sarcastic cheer from the crowd at the Linc.

Other notes:

** Jeff Garcia, not Vick, came in during garbage time in the fourth. Garcia fumbled his first (and last?) snap of the 2009 season.

** Bad job by CBS on the 4-yard pass to Avant late in the first half. The camera focused on Kolb’s face the whole time, as we never got to see where he threw the ball.

Four quick thoughts on the Eagles' 34-14 win over the Chiefs:

1. The Eagles said (per the Elias Sports Bureau) that Kevin Kolb is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 300-plus yards in his first two career starts. That's pretty remarkable. Kolb's performance had a lot of similarities to last week's game. He has an obvious comfort level with Brent Celek, who caught eight balls for 104 yards. He found DeSean Jackson for another big play. And he missed a few throws, particularly on timing routes. But most importantly, he took care of the football, finishing without a turnover.

2. Speaking of Celek, he sure looks like an elite tight end after three games. The strength seems to be the major difference from a year ago. Celek is picking up a lot of yards after initial contact. He's sure-handed and has been finding the end zone consistently. I have to re-watch the game, but it seems like he's improved as a blocker as well.

3. How about the offensive line? Zero sacks for the Chiefs. Remember when this was the Eagles' biggest question mark going into the season? Injuries, a lack of continuity, etc. This unit has performed admirably through the first three weeks. Props go to Juan Castillo and company.

4. The defense got shredded a week ago against the Saints. I know the Chiefs are not the Saints, but you didn't see the same errors (missed tackles, giving WRs big cushions) that you saw a week ago from this unit. I still have my concerns about the 'D' long-term, but the Eagles face the Bucs, Raiders and Redskins after the bye -- three of the worst offenses in the NFL. In other words, they have some time before facing a real test.

DeSean Jackson leaves the Chiefs' Jarrad Page in his wake on a second quarter touchdown reception against Kansas City. ( Ron Cortes / Staff Photographer)

There has been no shortage of story lines on offense for the 2009 Eagles.

The addition and use of Michael Vick.

The injuries to Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook.

The questions on the offensive line.

And the list goes on.

But once again today, the Eagles' most impressive playmaker was the guy we've been talking about since training camp started at Lehigh: DeSean Jackson.

The Birds beat the Chiefs, 34-14, today at the Linc to improve to 2-1. And Jackson shined, catching six balls for 149 yards (career high) and a touchdown. The big play was a 64-yard reception in the second quarter, where Jackson made the catch on a slant from Kolb and took it to the house.

Last week, he had four catches for 101 yards, including a 71-yard score.

Jackson became the first Eagle since Mike Quick to have a 60-plus yard receiving TD in back-to-back games. Quick did it in 1985.

And so, much of the post-game coverage will focus on Kolb, the Wildcat and Vick. But perhaps more important than those things is that Jackson appears to be taking the next step after a stellar rookie season.

Perhaps he heard the Anquan Boldin rumors in the offseason. Perhaps he took offense to the fact that the Eagles traded up and used their first-round pick on Jeremy Maclin.

Or maybe he just has that personal pride and desire to get better.

Whatever the case may be, Jackson is improving each week and proving to be the type of playmaker at wide receiver this franchise has lacked for much of the Andy Reid/McNabb era.

Join me for a live chat during today's Eagles-Chiefs game at the Linc.

As I mentioned yesterday, we didn't have our regular visit from Dave Staley of sportsbook.com this week.

The reason?

The site needed extra time to come out with an Eagles-Chiefs line because of all the injuries to the Birds. But the spread opened yesterday at Eagles (-8.5). This morning when I checked though, it had moved down to Eagles (-7.5). The public's money is on the Chiefs. According to the site's betting trends page, 74 percent of the action is for Kansas City.

Here's Staley's take on the line and the game. Note that he e-mailed yesterday when the line first opened:

We opened the numbers at Eagles (-8.5) with an over/under of 40.5. All of the injuries to the Birds’ key players delayed us a bit in opening this number. Opening the line Friday is perfect timing for our bettors as they can bet the early line (spread) at reduced juice (-105) since we have 'Reduced Juice Fridays.' With Brian Westbrook and DeSean Jackson banged up and Donovan McNabb unlikely to play, this number stays in the single digits. Although the Chiefs’ offense won’t be confused for New Orleans any time soon, the Eagles' defense needs rise to the occasion with McNabb most likely out. Giving up 48 points and 400-plus yards last week was very disappointing. Of course, the Chiefs won’t come close to those numbers, but they won’t have to in order to cover 8.5 points. I expect Philly’s defense to step up Sunday.

The over/under of 40.5 is a point or two lower than I expected, purely based on how the Eagles performed last weekend, both on offense and defense. The Eagles’ running game could help generate some points as the Chiefs’ opponents have averaged 135 yards on the ground so far. This isn’t a new problem for the Chiefs as they ranked 30th last year in rushing defense, surrendering 158.9 yards per game. A trend I just noticed that supports ‘under’ bettors: the ‘under’ is 11-6 in the Chiefs last 17 road games. Only 25 percent of the early money is on the over.

Dave answered a couple other questions for us in my Week 3 picks post yesterday.

***

I did not get to pick this game yesterday so here goes. Keep in mind I'm 0-2 picking Eagles games so far this year.

I like the Eagles big. I thought Kevin Kolb played well last week, and I think the Eagles will have success running the ball. Obviously, Michael Vick's role is an X-factor, but I'm in the camp that thought the Eagles looked pretty good running the Wildcat last week. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it tomorrow.

Defensively, last week's performance was a concern. Particularly the linebacker play. But I think you're going to see the Saints make a lot of defenses look terrible this season. The Chiefs? Not so much. Look for the 'D' to bounce back.

Special teams are a huge concern and the unit that could cost the Eagles. But if they deliver an average performance, I think the Birds cover and enter the bye 2-1.

The pick: Eagles (-7.5)