Reid, Tra Thomas and practice observations
Links on Andy Reid and Tra Thomas, plus observations from today's Eagles practice.
Some odds and ends to get to:
* Andy Reid will be one of four NFL head coaches going on the USO Tour to the Middle East later this month, according to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio. Brad Childress will join him.
Tom Coughlin, Bill Cowher, Jeff Fisher, Jon Gruden and John Harbaugh went last year.
* The Chargers are expected to sign Tra Thomas, according to Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune. Thomas spent last season with the Jaguars after signing with Jacksonville as a free agent. He's 35.
* And some practice observations. I wrote about this over the weekend, but Mike Bell looks pretty comfortable catching the football. He made plays both down the field on wheel routes and in the flat today.
* Michael Vick did not look sharp today. He missed on quite a few throws.
* Pat Simonds is a 6-5, 229-pound receiver out of Colgate. And today he almost killed me.
OK, not really, but Simonds caught a 10-yard out at full speed and ran out of bounds near where I was standing. In his path was Eagles president Joe Banner, who scrambled out of the way. And behind him, was me. I also hurried aside.
It'll be a miracle if I get through training camp without being taken out by a player. I'm generally standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, and spend way too much time typing away on my Blackberry, oblivious to my surroundings.
So if someone barrels me over at Lehigh, well, it's been a good run my friends.
* Useless nugget of the day: With Omar Gaither and Stewart Bradley not practicing, it was rookie Jamar Chaney manning the middle on the second team.
* Several coaches from different colleges have stopped by to observe practice this week. I've seen polos that indicate Penn, Princeton, Lehigh and Delaware have been represented.
*Sean McDermott lines up rookie Daniel Te'o-Nesheim all over the place. Inside, outside, dropping back in coverage. Pretty much everywhere.
* Mike McGlynn got some reps with the first team at center, but it's still been mostly Nick Cole.
* I caught up with Ernie Sims at the end of practice. More on that tomorrow, but the video is embedded below.
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