Another Tuesday and another Anquan Boldin update.

Although, there's not really anything new to report, so it should be noted we use the term "update" loosely here at MTC.

Once again, SI.com's Peter King wrote about Boldin in his Monday Morning Quarterback column yesterday. Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt told King that Arizona is determined to keep Boldin.

Here's the excerpt:

I think I hear and believe what the Cardinals are saying -- and Ken Whisenhunt said it to me again last week, that he is determined to keep Anquan Boldin on his team. But I've seen too many of the guerrilla tactics by agent Drew Rosenhaus to think it's going to go down that way. The Eagles are sitting there at 21 and 28, frothing for a receiver. So is Miami at 25, Baltimore at 26, the Giants at 29 and Tennessee at 30. If the Cards think it's going to be tense with Boldin, with more problems at training camp like last year, they're going to have to think seriously of auctioning Boldin and spending the money on Karlos Dansby long-term.

Boldin is not expected to participate in team workouts, according to Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic. But, per the report, we shouldn't read too much into that, especially considering the same thing happened last offseason.

Other items of note this morning:

** Speaking of disgruntled wide receivers, Chad Ocho Cinco was the only Bengals wideout to not attend the team's offseason training program, according to Joe Reedy of The Cincinnati Enquirer.

“I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about the guys we have here,” said quarterback Carson Palmer. “The guys that want to be here and want to work now are the guys in the locker room and here today and here this offseason. I’m not going to worry about anyone else.”

** Could the Eagles play a prime-time game at the new Cowboys stadium during the first month of the season? According to Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning-News, Jerry Jones said over the weekend that the team will play its first two regular-season home games in prime-time. A source tells Watkins that Dallas' first home game will be in Week 2. The Eagles played a Week 2 Monday night matchup in Dallas last year, losing 41-37, in a game that will be remembered for the botched handoff between Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. And maybe also for DeSean Jackson releasing the football prior to crossing the goal line.

** And finally, Moving the Chains has taken the plunge and joined Twitter. To be honest, I know pretty much nothing about it. Actually my girlfriend was bored over the weekend and set up the account while I was manning the site for Villanova coverage. The move had a lot to do with peer pressure. As a teenager, it was booze, cigarettes and drugs. And now in my mid-20s, it's Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I'm not sure how I got here, and I'm not sure I like it.

But anyway, you can "follow" me at http://twitter.com/movingthechains

This has been set up to automatically update with any new posts from the blog. Maybe in the future I'll make it more personalized -- you know, what's in my NetFlix queue, who I think should be the Phils' fifth starter, etc. But we're not there yet. The goal is to get at least eight followers. That will make me happy. So Tweet away.

Back with more later, including a couple draft nuggets.

Ryan Moats spoke with Robin Roberts of Good Morning America today about the incident we detailed last week in which a Dallas area police officer prevented the ex-Eagles running back from saying good-bye to his dying mother in-law.

Moats' wife Tamisha said she would accept an apology from officer Robert Powell, who ticketed Moats for running a red light and kept him in the parking lot of Plano Hospital while his mother in-law passed away of breast cancer.

"Actually it would be comforting if we heard an apology directly from him, but up until this point, we have not received a personal call from him directly," Tamisha said. "Maybe he’s tried to reach out and we just perhaps missed his call, but we definitely would accept his apology because he’s a human being."

Powell has issued a public apology and has reportedly been attempting to reach out to Moats and his wife.

Moats said Powell took out his gun and pointed it at Tamisha when she got out of the car at the hospital. Tamisha ignored Powell's orders and ran into the hospital to see her mother.

Moats explained what he was thinking as the disturbing situation unfolded.

"When I got out, I thought if I explain it to him, maybe he will understand," Moats said. "So I went to explain it to him, and I wasn’t getting anywhere so I just said, how about I just be quiet, let him say what he has to say, and maybe he’ll just go ahead and write the ticket and let me go, give me time enough to get up. So he started to talk, and it just kept going and going, and then I just had to say to him 'Could you just write the ticket and just let me go?' I was thinking maybe he could walk up with me and let me say my goodbyes. I didn’t have a problem with paying the ticket. I understand about the red light, but I thought he would have some type of sympathy."

The compusure with which Moats and his wife spoke was stunning, given the circumstances.

"I accept his apology, and I hope it’s sincere," Moats said.

The video below shows part of the incident, along with the interview.

Video of the entire incident, which was caught on camera, was posted on YouTube. Click here for the first part and here for the second part.

View gallery

Time for our weekly five questions with Scott Wright from draftcountdown.com.

As always, if you have specific questions for Scott, e-mail me and I'll try to get to them.

Q: There were reports last week that North Carolina WR Hakeem Nicks had put on a considerable amount of weight. How concerning is that, and what do you make of Nicks as a prospect?

A: Nicks was supposedly hurt and hadn’t been able to work out, but that is still no excuse for putting on so much weight (14-16 pounds) in less than a month's time.  It’s not a deal-breaker, but it definitely raises some red flags and could put his first-round status in jeopardy.  For a guy who is kind of on that late first / early second-round fringe, it certainly didn’t help his cause.

Q: A little curveball here. The Eagles may expect cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu to contribute this season. What did you think of the Wisconsin cornerback as a prospect going into last year’s draft?

A: Here was my scouting report on him from last year:

Grade:  2 Star / Mid-Rounder

Strengths: Nice size and bulk...Very tough, strong and physical...Is quick to react, gets a great break on the ball ...Excellent instincts and awareness...Reliable tackler..Will deliver the big hit...Excels at getting a jam at the line...Uses his hands well... Athletic with good change of direction.... Will come up to support the run... Has some versatility.

Weaknesses: Doesn't have great timed speed or quickness... Lacks a burst to recover... Hips are not fluid and he will struggle to turn and run with pro wideouts... Is too aggressive at times and takes a lot of risks... Struggles to match up in off-man coverage... Ran into trouble off the field and character's a concern... Has some major health issues.

Notes: He profiles as a zone corner at the next level..Could've been a 2nd or 3rd round pick at one point but with the legal troubles and his availability for the '08 season still up in the air he is likely to freefall on Draft Day... Talented prospect with a lot of question marks but he could be a steal for some team that is willing to take a risk and be patient.

There was a time before he got hurt that some were looking at Ikegwuonu as a potential first-round pick so value-wise he was a nice choice late in the fourth round.  It will still probably be another year before he is completely recovered from that devastating knee injury, but he is certainly talented and could contribute at either corner or safety for the Eagles.

Q: What do you make of Penn State product Aaron Maybin? Is he a guy who will need a specific system to excel?

A: Best-case scenario Maybin could be the next Terrell Suggs, but personally I feel he’s one of the most overrated prospects in this draft.  Maybin is probably going to go in the top 10-13 picks, but I wouldn’t touch him until late round one (at the earliest) for a number of reasons.  First of all, he just isn’t ready for the NFL.  He only played two seasons of college ball and was basically just a one-year wonder so there isn’t an extensive on-field resume to evaluate.  Remember, his teammate Maurice Evans put up very similar statistics in 2007, yet he fell way off in 2008 and probably won’t even be drafted.  Also, despite Maybin’s best efforts to bulk up, he still has a long way to go in terms of his physical development.  Then there is the question of position because he looks like a classic ‘tweener in that he’s not big enough to play defensive end, but may not be fast enough to play outside linebacker.  For a guy with so much riding on his athleticism and physical tools, Maybin was not overly impressive at the Scouting Combine, and while he did improve his workout numbers at the Penn St. Pro Day, you have to take into account the fast surface they were running on.  When most of those Nittany Lions improve their forty times by one or two tenths of a second, it has to send up warning signals.  The final factor is the program pedigree, and for one reason or another, Penn St. defensive lineman just do not have an impressive track record in the NFL.  Courtney Brown, Michael Haynes, Jimmy Kennedy, etc.  I see Maybin as a 3-4 outside linebacker at the next level, and while there is no denying he has a world of potential, I would not be willing to risk an early first-round pick on someone with so many question marks.

Q: Compare the three USC linebackers expected to be selected in the first round.

A: It would have been absurd to suggest six months ago, but there is a real good chance that Clay Matthews will be selected ahead of both Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing.  Here is how I would quickly describe the three:  Maualuga is the tough, physical inside linebacker whose best fit would probably come in a 3-4 scheme; Matthews is more of the 3-4 pass-rushing outside linebacker, while Cushing is a strongside guy in a 4-3.  As you said, all three are probably first-round picks.

Q: To continue our sleeper series, please give us an underrated prospect and a small-school sleeper at wide receiver.

A: My top small-school wide receiver is Ramses Barden out of Cal Poly.  A rare physical specimen at a legit 6-6 and 229 pounds, Barden is a phenomenal athlete, and while he doesn’t have elite speed or a great burst, he is a long-strider who plays a little faster than he times.  I think Barden could ultimately be a second- or third-round pick.

In terms of underrated wideouts, I’d single out two guys.  The first is Sammie Stroughter from Oregon St., who doesn’t have the ideal size or speed you look for, but was very productive and is also a terrific return man.  The other guy is Brennan Marion from Tulsa, who averaged 28.7 yards per catch in his two seasons with the Golden Hurricanes.  Marion has been limited by an injury during the pre-draft process but I think he could be a nice late round steal for someone.

Last week over at Eagletarian, Paul Domowitch wrote that he, NFL Network's Mike Mayock and Ron Jaworski all felt that Georgia's Knowshon Moreno and Connecticut's Donald Brown were the best fits for the Birds among the top running back prospects.

Brown participated in UConn's Pro Day last week, looking to show scouts his abilities as a receiver. He also benched 225 pounds 17 times, a workout he didn't participate in during the combine because of a reported banged-up shoulder.

"He looked great, very quick feet, and he caught the ball -- which is very important for Donald Brown -- extremely well," said NFL Network's Mike Mayock who was in attendance to see the workout.

Mayock has Brown second on his list of running backs.

Meanwhile, NFL Network analyst Charles Davis said Brown's name deserves to be mentioned in any discussion involving this year's top running back prospects.

"What I took away from talking with different teams was his ability to handle carries, eat carries and grind down defenses," Davis said. "A lot of teams that played against him felt like they were holding him down, and then by the end of the game, he had absolutely shredded them. His work ethic, second to none. This guy is a flat-out player, pushing Knowshon Moreno hard for the running back spot, either top or No. 2."

Mayock interviewed Brown and asked him how he felt he performed as a blocker.

"It's definitely progressed over the years," Brown said. "And I had it down pat this year so it's something I'm comfortable with."

And are the Eagles showing any interest in him?

"There's been a dozen teams showing interest right now," Brown told Mayock. "I have visits set up to San Diego, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, the Jets, so we're hearing from a lot of different organizations right now."

WIP's Howard Eskin interviewed Brown last week and asked him about the possibility of playing in Philadelphia.

"You never know. There's a great chance that that could happen," Brown said. " ... There's been talk with the Eagles. I'm actually supposed to visit the Eagles in the beginning of April for a visit so we'll see what happens."

Brown is from Atlantic Highlands, N.J.

"That'd be great. Being close to home," he said. "My parents and family and friends would be able to come to the majority of my games so that'd be great."

Brown said he believes his visit with the Birds is on April 7.

"When you go to the team visits, it's strictly nothing physical. It's just more interviews and talking more football," he said.

So what do you think? Would Brown be a good fit?

At this point, Eagles fans don't know exactly what role new fullback Leonard Weaver will fill next season.

Will Andy Reid use him in the passing game? Can he convert on short yardage? How often will he be on the field?

Like I said, we're not sure as of yet.

But after listening to his radio interview on 1290 The Ticket, one thing is certain. He's bringing a unique personality with him from Seattle.

Weaver made waves earlier this week when he called Philadelphia his "secondary choice" behind the Seahawks.

Inquirer columnist Bob Ford ripped into him pretty good over on Post Patterns yesterday.

But in his most recent radio interview, Weaver tried to clear the air, saying he wants to be in Philadelphia, and he didn't mean any disrespect with his earlier comments.

"I want to let people know, any time you start your career somewhere, of course you would love to stay there," he said. "That's where you started. You've got relationships. But anytime you have an opportunity to go somewhere else where you can excel, I mean that's what you do. And I was very excited. I let Seattle know at that particular time that yeah, when they asked me 'Do you want to stick around?' I told 'em yeah, and this is before free agency even started, but obviously in doing so, you know, we had to definitely make another decision. And we definitely had several other teams, but Philly is the place that I wanted to be."

I didn't include them in the quotes, but Weaver says 'man' and 'bro' before and after pretty much every sentence. In other words, Joe Conklin has a new impression to learn for sure.

Weaver continued, indicating his words had been taken out of context.

"It seems like a lot of things that I’ve been saying that have been written have definitely been misconstrued," he said. "I told people, I said you know man, don’t do me like that. I was like you know the kind of guy I am. I’m a truthful, honest guy, bro. I know some people may not like it, but you know man, no. Philly is where I am man. This is my new home. I’m looking forward to getting things started man. We’re gonna see what the future holds. It’s a one-year deal. I’m hoping that I come in and do what I need to do and they like me enough to say, 'you know what, we want you here for the rest of your career' and then hey, there we go. We got a new home. So I’m excited man."

And now my favorite part. We've added a name to the list of Philadelphia athletes who refer to themselves in the third person. But the great part about Weaver is that he doesn't refer to himself as 'Leonard' or 'Weaver.' Instead, he calls himself 'Weave.' I know, too good to be true. We even think Jimmy (video below) would be impressed.

"And I know, Philly, you gotta be careful about the media and what they say," he said. "If you didn’t hear it from Weave and you just saw it written down, then make sure you talk to Weave. Weave’ll clear it up for you."

And finally, one last message to the fans from Weave.

"Let me tell you Philly fans, you have nothing to worry about. I’m here," he said. "I want to stay. We’ll see what happens throughout the year. But I’m gonna give you my best, no matter what I do. I’m gonna give you a hundred percent when I’m on that field."

Glad to hear it Weave, glad to hear it.

To say that L.J. Smith ripped into Andy Reid during a radio interview today would be unfair.

But to say he was critical of the way his former coach handled things last season would be accurate.

Smith appeared on The Monty Show on Sporting News Radio today and suggested that communication isn't exactly one of Reid's strengths. I haven't been able to get my hands on a podcast of the interview, so the quotes you see are courtesy of NFL.com.

“There were a lot of things that I felt like should have been handled differently,” Smith said. “You know, there were a couple of times where Coach (Andy Reid) should have came up to me and told me what what going on and how he was looking at things and how he was handling situations and what direction he wanted to go, but it didn’t happen like that.

“As a player, you never want to hear things through the media. Everyone’s wrong, and everyone obviously had to do the right thing to get to this point in the NFL, and you just want to be treated like that. You want to be treated like a man before an athlete. I think a lot of times in the NFL, coaches forget that. They're so involved with the numbers and schemes, and they forget how to approach a player, and I just felt like a couple of times throughout the season last year, there were a couple of coaches who forgot that.”

Per the report, Smith said he was "treated like a number" and added that he has not spoken with Reid.

“I don’t want to come across bitter or anything like that because as long as I’m in the NFL, that’s a blessing in itself,” Smith said. “I’m definitely grateful for my experience there -- good or bad. However, it’s one of those things where the coach knows. He knows how he should have handled the situation, and I don’t have to tell him. But if I see him, there’s no hard feelings.”

Eagles fans will look at this in one of two ways.

On the one hand, it would appear Reid and his coaching staff have a communication problem. You can go back to last season when Reid didn't tell Donovan McNabb he was being benched. Then there was the confusion with Brian Dawkins' departure. Joe Banner said he had no idea Dawkins felt the way he did after they met to talk about a new contract. Later in the offseason, Tra Thomas criticized the Eagles for being too business-like. And now there's Smith.

On the other hand, you could argue that the situations above involve players who are bitter and didn't criticize Reid until they left town. In each instance, the Eagles did not offer the players what they wanted, and that could create the sore feelings.

Where does the MTC readership stand on the issue? Do Reid and the Eagles' management have a communication problem? Or are the former players just bitter?

Earlier today, we posted about Ryan Moats' troubling run-in with a cop, where he was hassled while trying to reach his dying mother in-law in the hospital.

The entire scene was captured on video. Click here for the first part.

The second part is posted below. Not much happens until about the five-minute mark. The officer finally lets Moats see his mother in-law, but as we later learned, it was too late. She had already passed away.

Catching up on some online reading this morning and stumbled upon a troubling story involving ex-Eagles running back Ryan Moats.

Moats, 26, joined the Houston Texans last season. He spent a couple of seasons with the Birds after being selected in the third round of the 2005 draft.

Per The Dallas-Morning News and WFAA-TV in Dallas/Fort Worth, Moats was hassled by a police officer in Texas as he rushed to the hospital to see his mother in-law, 45-year-old Jonetta Collinsworth, who was dying of breast cancer.

According to The Dallas-Morning News, Moats ran a red light with his hazard lights on a little after midnight on March 17. Moats said the only nearby driver waved him to go ahead.

Police officer Robert Powell followed Moats, who was driving with his wife, Collinsworth's father and her great aunt, to Plano Hospital.

Once they arrived, Moats' wife got out of the car.

"Get in there!" Powell yelled, per the reports. "Let me see your hands!"

"My mom is dying," she explained, ignoring his command and running into the hospital.

Moats, who stayed behind with Collinsworth's father, went back-and-forth with the officer.

"Just give me a ticket or whatever," he said.

"Shut your mouth," Powell told him. "You can cooperate and settle down, or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."

According to the reports, the hospital twice sent nurses outside to ask the officer to let Moats go, but he would not listen.

"If you want to keep this going, I'll just put you in handcuffs," Powell said, "and I'll take you to jail for running a red light."

The entire incident, which lasted either 13 or 20 minutes -- depending on the report -- was captured on video.

An excerpt from the Morning-News article:

Powell made several more points, including that the SUV was illegally parked. Moats replied "Yes sir" to each.

"Understand what I can do," Powell concluded. "I can tow your truck. I can charge you with fleeing. I can make your night very difficult."

"I understand," Moats responded. "I hope you'll be a great person and not do that."

By the time Powell finally issued a ticket to Moats and he got into the hospital, it was too late. His mother in-law had already died.

"I went up after she passed and held her hand, but she was already gone," Moats told WFAA-TV.

"For him to not even be sympathetic at all, and basically we're dogs or something and we don't matter, it basically shocked me," he added later.

Dallas police have launched an investigation, dropped the ticket and apologized, according to the reports.

This is just a brief summary of the incident. There are plenty more details.

Click here for The Dallas-Morning News report and here for the WFAA-TV report.

UPDATE: As some of you pointed out, the video is now posted on WFAA's Web site. Click here to watch it. It provides a clearer perspective than simply reading the quotes. If the clip makes its way to YouTube, please e-mail me and I'll embed it here.

UPDATE II: The videos have been posted on YouTube. They are in two parts. Below is the first part. I'll post the second part in a separate post. And I have to say the situation is even more disturbing when watching the whole thing unfold. Thanks to reader Usman for passing along the link.

Click here for the second part of the video.

Former Eagles tight end L.J. Smith is looking to prove his doubters wrong as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.

“I feel like I’m renewed, that I have a new spirit,” Smith told Mike Duffy of baltimoreravens.com. “I feel like I’m in a place where I can hopefully reach my potential. People would say, ‘Oh, he hasn’t reached his potential, blah, blah, blah.’

“Hopefully, I can do that here and help this team get to a place we all want to be, and that’s the Super Bowl.”

Smith, who missed four games last season and six in 2007, took issue with critics assigning him with the injury label.

“It was kind of nerve-wracking,” Smith said. “The last few years, I’ve dealt with injuries, which makes [free agency] frustrating. That was one of the red flags about me in the market. It’s just something you have to deal with as a player.

“I always worked hard during the offseason for the regular season, so it wasn’t about getting ready at all with me. They were just freak accidents. But, I’m here, and I’m in a good spot.”

In other news...

** The NFL owners have voted to change the way draft order is decided, according to John Clayton of ESPN.com. The order for non-playoff teams remains the same. It will be decided by regular-season record. The change takes effect for playoff teams. Losers in the wild-card round will have picks 21 through 24, based on record. Losers in the divisional round get picks 25 through 28. The championship game losers get 29 and 30, followed by the Super Bowl loser and of course the champ. The change would have affected the Eagles this year. The Birds got the 21st pick for finishing 9-6-1 last season. Under the new format, they would have gotten the 29th pick for getting to the NFC championship. Per Clayton, the new order will take place in 2010.

** Terrell Owens will receive the Alzheimer's Association's first Young Champions Award in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night, which partially could explain why he's not at Bills' voluntary workouts. I was told by reader Rajiv to post this item because T.O. is made out to be a villain too often. So there you go.

** And finally, cornerback Donald Strickland has agreed to terms with the New York Jets, according to profootballtalk.com. Strickland spent time with the Eagles in 2005.