It looked like fun, at least to Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie. Lurie saw the Eagles' quarterbacks pouncing on balls during a fumble-recovery drill before practice yesterday, and Lurie decided to join in. So, no, the accompanying photo does not show Lurie being bowled over by any Brian Westbrook or Lito Sheppard salary demands.

Lurie said he mishandled his first attempt, then got the knack.

"The second one, I really rolled into it and protected it," said the chairman, who turns 57 next month. "I'd actually never seen them doing that before. I thought - ahhh, something an old guy can do, too, without getting injured. It was kinda fun. You know, to catch passes would be more fun, but to catch Donovan's ball . . . I think the golf game would be destroyed." Lurie looked down at his hand: "Or the tennis game would be destroyed."

Lurie is scheduled to give his state of the team address after practice today.

With the fields at Lehigh back to normal after Saturday morning's water main break, the Eagles went to work on a coolish, clear morning. Brian Westbrook, battling a viral illness, started the practice but left before it was over. Lito Sheppard left with a groin pull, the Eagles said, joining Asante Samuel (hamstring) on the shelf. Matt Schobel came up limping after Chris Gocong landed on his legs in the end zone; Schobel suffered a foot injury, the team said. Sean Considine sat out with an oblique muscle strain, Kimo von Oelhoffen with a knee injury.

Crunch Time

* Westbrook's early departure gave more reps to Lorenzo Booker and Correll Buckhalter. Booker danced inside and then outside, dodging tacklers, for a 27-yard gain. Buckhalter broke loose for a huge gain on a screen, but fumbled inside the 5.

* Kevin Kolb seemed to have DeSean Jackson open for a TD, despite being hurried by blitzing Quintin Mikell, but Sheldon Brown broke up the pass.

* Holder Sav Rocca pitched to Brent Celek for a nice gain on a fake field goal. Those plays always seem to work in training camp.

* Crowd-pleaser David Akers nailed a 60-yard field goal, again.

* King Dunlap, the 6-9 project of an offensive tackle the Eagles drafted in the seventh round this year, held his own against Trent Cole in 1-on-1 drills. Cole, a Pro Bowl defensive end last season, always goes hard, to the point where he sometimes ticks off teammates on the other side of the line. So those encouraging words Andy Reid had for Dunlap in Saturday's news conference gained credibility. Reid said of Dunlap: "He's a good athlete. He's got a little bit of a sore ankle, but he's played through that and he's done very well with it. It hurts him a little bit, when he's being bull-rushed, because he can't put his foot in the ground like he wants to. He's moving around very well. He's got very long arms and knows how to use them. He's not afraid to play the game out in front of him. I've been impressed by the way he's handled himself."

* You don't see a lot of arm-flapping celebrations on the field at Lehigh, but Omar Gaither launched into one after the defense "sacked" Kolb.

* Kevin Curtis made a great leaping TD catch of a Donovan McNabb heave, while defended by Nick Graham.

* Stewart Bradley laid a strong lick on Booker, running inside.

* When a pass bounced off Greg Lewis' hands, Joselio Hanson caught it and ran it back.

- Les Bowen