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Austin signing official; he says he's solved hamstring troubles

Miles Austin passed his physical and is officially an Eagle. He said he wants to fit in however he can. Austin said he feels he has conquered persistent hamstring problems by changing his stretching routine.

MILES AUSTIN doesn't know yet whether he's a starter or a spare, Austin told reporters on a conference call yesterday, but he's ready and willing, however the Eagles want to use him.

Austin said he feels he has conquered persistent hamstring problems by changing his stretching routine. He passed his physical yesterday and officially became an Eagle.

Austin, a Pro Bowl receiver for the Cowboys in 2009 and 2010, said he hasn't played much special teams recently, but said, "I'm not against doing anything."

Austin, who turns 31 in June, said this was the only free-agent visit he made, after catching 47 passes for 568 yards and two touchdowns for the Browns last season. It isn't clear there was much interest elsewhere. His 2014 season ended after 12 games, with a kidney injury, and injuries - mostly hamstrings - have dulled his early promise.

"Honestly, last year, I don't even know how you lacerate a kidney without stabbing yourself," he said. "I fell on my side, I guess, really hard . . . Before that, I felt like it was my process, my warmup [that contributed to the hamstring troubles]. I changed my process around before practice, and it helped me last year, soft-tissuewise. Obviously, there's nothing I can do about a kidney. But I felt as good as I've felt last year physically, with my legs. I'm just going to continue that, learn some stuff here, and go on from there."

In Dallas, there was a perception that the leg problems had permanently robbed Austin of explosiveness. He said he probably isn't quite as explosive as he was when he came out of Monmouth as an undrafted rookie in 2006, mostly because he's 9 years older, but he said he makes up for whatever he's lost through having learned a lot more about route-running.

Austin reportedly will make $2.3 million this season, with a chance to add $700,000 through incentives.

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian