The Day at Lehigh

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The afternoon practice came to a sudden stop when an angry Andy Reid snapped at his first-team defense.

"This is your period. This is not a jog-through," Reid hollered. "We're concentrating on turnovers, so let's get turnovers. I care about the ball in the air."

Some among the crowd loved it. "Yeah, Andy," someone shouted.

On the next play, cornerback Sheldon Brown intercepted a pass. The play after that, linebacker Stewart Bradley picked one off. A short while later, rookie free safety Quintin Demps got an interception.

If only it were that easy during games.

Pit stop

Kicker David Akers was probably the happiest Eagle at the morning practice.

An avid NASCAR fan, Akers got to hang out a bit with his friend Martin Truex Jr., a NASCAR driver who watched the practice.

Afterward, Akers and Truex exchanged helmets, and Truex received an Eagles jersey with his name on it and a promise from Akers that he would arrange to get tickets to a game.

Akers and Truex race together online.

Truex, who grew up in Manahawkin, N.J., said he had long been an Eagles fan. He will race Sunday in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Akers "got into online racing about a year and a half ago, and, actually, that's how I met him," Truex said.

Akers said Truex had a tougher job than he did. "He goes three wide at Talladega at 300 miles an hour," he said. "That's much harder than here."

Akers is a kicker, so who could argue?

Plays of the day

It was the first noncontact day of training camp, so what we're talking about here is basically a high-level game of flag football. Still, somebody has to make some plays.

The player who has been the most fun to watch is running back Lorenzo Booker, who made a spectacular one-handed catch and a dazzling move that practically screwed Demps, the rookie safety, into the turf.

Rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson made a nice leaping grab between two defenders in a far corner of the end zone.

And in a seven-on-seven drill, linebacker Pago Togafau punched the ball loose from running back Tony Hunt and recovered the fumble after Hunt caught a pass.

Big man

At 6-foot-3 and 358 pounds, guard Max Jean-Gilles is a very large man. But when one of the young men on the hydration team handed him a bottle of Gatorade and it looked like a shot glass in his palm, well, that's impressive.

B-West a draw

The crowd of 6,099 at the two sessions was the largest of the week, and we suspect Brian Westbrook had something to do with it. The Eagles running backs signed autographs after the morning session, and, no surprise, the longest line formed in front of Westbrook's table.