And, well, Trent Cole is about to turn the key again. He really is an assault on the senses. A Pro Bowler now, he had 12 1/2 sacks last season for the Eagles and 11 tackles for loss, the only player in the NFL who had double-digits in both. He is their most dynamic defensive player going into the 2008 season.

There might be a way to make him an even better player, too. That is, by playing him less.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear what you're saying,'' Cole said. "Fewer snaps will always help a person. But at the same time, I've got to tell you: I want to play every down. I can do it, too.''

He doesn't play every snap, not nearly. But his numbers do suggest a wearing-down process as the season goes along. Some of it is natural enough - it is a long, physical season for everyone, and rushing the passer is among the more physically difficult skills in the game - but it is now time for the Eagles to wonder whether a little more rest for Cole early in the season might pay benefits later on.

"There are times when I've gotten tired, yes,'' Cole said. "But I still feel like I've gotten it done. I think I'm all right. It might happen, but I think I do all right with it. It's a gamble that you take. If you want to give somebody fewer snaps in a game, and you know they really can play the whole game, then why? Because there are some games when you don't get tired. I would say, most games I don't get tired.''

It must be an incredible feeling, one of those games. Pass rushers terrorize by their very job description - and what must those games be like, the ones in which the other guy is barely able to hang on against you across the line of scrimmage, the games in which you have him whipped physically and mentally and it always seems as if you have a path to the quarterback on the plays where you have been turned loose?

The exhilaration must be real on those days, and Cole has had plenty. But if 2 years can be considered a pattern, a lot more of those days have come a lot earlier in the season.

In 2007, nine out of his 12 1/2 sacks came in the first seven games of the season. After that, Cole had only a half-sack total in the next 5 weeks.

In 2006, it was the same pattern on a smaller scale. Six of his 8 1/2 sacks that year came in the first 5 weeks. So, there is that.

Some of the reason might be that teams have been slow to pay attention to Cole - but that once they do, they have been able to use an extra body to neutralize him better. If that is the case, it is an indictment of whoever is playing on the other end of the line and that player's inability to draw any kind of a double-team, ever.

Now, Cole remains too much of a good teammate to say anything like that. What he did say was: "I think a lot of it is being double-teamed and triple-teamed. If they double you and triple-team you, that's it . . . When you put yourself out there, when you make plays, they're going to know who you are.''

But the rest, logic dictates, is that a fairly undersized defensive end who has this outrageous, all-out motor that everyone talks about is just getting worn down too early in the season.

Give the Eagles this: They come at this defensive line thing with waves of potential solutions, pretty much every season. This year, they are adding Chris Clemons and Trevor Laws to a constantly evolving mix. It is a crucial position and the Eagles have thrown a treasure chest full of cash and draft picks over the years. They know in their hearts that all of these guys will be better if they play less, Cole included.

Remember 2 years ago, the season opener in Houston? That was the game in which Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson changed up his front four like a hockey coach changing lines - four more men over the boards, all together, and four men out. It made for a nice story that day, but it didn't last. Guys get hurt. Guys play badly. Games need to be won. Stalwarts need to be leaned upon. You know.

Cole says he will start this season at 260 to 265 pounds, as always. He says he will end it at 250 to 255 pounds, which he says is not a problem, which he says "makes me feel better, makes me feel even faster.''

And there are no illusions.

"This year is going to be harder,'' Cole said, after the acclaim of 2007, the Pro Bowl, all of it. "There is no way they're not going to notice you. If they see the games, they're not going to just leave you kind of quiet over there.''

In the end, good health will lead to another good season. Cole is very good and very persistent. But as another camp opens, you cannot help but wonder. Can less be more? *

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