Abiamiri, the second-round draft choice in 2007 from Notre Dame, played in six games, recording seven tackles and no sacks. Until the final three games, you had almost as good a chance of sighting a unicorn frolicking on the chewed-up Linc surface as you did of spying Abiamiri.

Howard, the big 2006 free-agent signee, continued to puzzle and frustrate the team that expected to add a difference-maker when it signed him away from the Saints, to a 6-year, $32 million contract. Howard spent the entire season as a backup and ended up getting much of his playing time inside, as a situational defensive tackle. He played in all 16 games, starting none, managing 10 tackles and one sack. That worked out to about $350,000 per tackle, which is nice work if you can get it.

Both Abiamiri and Howard entered Eagles training camp last week looking for bigger roles, but they're part of an expanded defensive-line cast, where it seems nearly everybody (except maybe Pro Bowl left defensive end Trent Cole) is slated as a situational player.

Abiamiri, though, enters with a share of the starting left-side spot. He is alternating on the first-team defense with Juqua Parker, formerly Juqua Thomas, who has managed 11 sacks the past two seasons while starting just eight games. Thomas/Parker was the much more effective player last season, but this is something the Eagles do - take a rookie who didn't play much and project him as a starter the next season. Sometimes it works (Brodrick Bunkley.) Sometimes it doesn't (Matt McCoy.)

"The fact that they're giving me an opportunity says a lot about their expectations of me,'' said Abiamiri, the biggest, strongest Eagles DE, at 6-4, 267. "I definitely feel that I've made strides, especially through the offseason program.''

"Victor, to me, had a really good year last year,'' Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said yesterday. Johnson might have been including practice evaluations into that judgment. "He's going to be playing a lot on first and second down. So will Parker. Juqua is maybe a hair better of a pass rusher, but Victor is getting better, too. I think it'll come down to down-and- distance situations with those two.''

The right side seems to have Cole and free-agent signee Chris Clemons, who managed 20 1/2 sacks between them in 2007. The Eagles need someone to emerge on the left who can be at least as effective a pass rusher as Parker. Abiamiri will get the best shot, but Howard (who usually has played the right), oft-injured Jerome McDougle and third-round rookie Bryan Smith all figure into the training-camp mix.

"We're always looking for pass rushers,'' Johnson said. "I think Darren Howard is in the best shape I've seen him in, since he's been here. I think his weight's down, I think he's healthy, I see a lot of good things out of Howard. Of course, we're counting on that. We're counting on Victor being a better pass rusher; that [pass rush] is why we got Chris Clemons.''

Howard, 31, is way down the depth chart at end; again, his best shot at playing seems to be as a situational tackle, though the Eagles could save about $1.1 million by releasing him (the difference between his $3.2 million cap figure and the $2.1 million hit for cutting him.) But Johnson said yesterday that he feels he has enough good ends now, he's more concerned about developing an inside pass rush, which the Birds often lacked last season. That might be Howard's ticket to stay on the roster, even if he clearly would rather play end.

"I think this is going to be a good year for him,'' Johnson said of Howard. "He was a good role player for us last year. We expect more out of him this year. He made some big plays toward the end there, we hope he continues. He just looks like a different player to me right now.''

Howard, 6-3, said yesterday he has played at every weight from 290 down to where he is now, between 255 and 260, in his 8-year NFL career. If losing 15 pounds this offseason made him look so much quicker, why did it take 2 years after signing the big deal for him to do it?

"I always thought about doing it, but it's hard to do,'' Howard said yesterday. "Especially if you have a really tough season, you're playing, you're starting 16 games, you want to take a month-and-a-half, 2 months off, maybe when you do get started, you get started late.

"I came off last season really fresh, and I realized at the same time, heavy defensive ends, that's not something we have here, anyway. If I had any time to do it, it was this offseason.

"I didn't really feel heavy last season . . . but I feel [better] now.''

Obviously, if Howard is going to play tackle, losing weight might be counterproductive - except that the idea of putting him inside is to generate pass-rush pressure, so his size isn't that much of an issue. And then there's this:

"I feel like I'm a defensive end,'' Howard said. "You have to know what the situation is, and be an asset to the football team. I've always felt like I'm a defensive end who can rush inside . . . I'm comfortable doing both. Everybody likes to get more snaps at their natural position, but it is what it is.''

Birdseed