Eagles' Kevin Kolb has a lot to learn, and he's doing it

BETHLEHEM - Kevin Kolb has been lofting passes at Lehigh for 2 weeks now, since reporting with the rookies, and we still can't tell you he's bound for the Hall of Fame, or that the opposite is true, that Kolb is destined to become the defining mistake of the Andy Reid Eagles era.

There was a while there last week, frankly, when the new quarterback wasn't looking super-sharp, when it seemed the defense could bait him into throwing picks at an alarming rate. But though Kolb and his charges are still dealing with a young, aggressive Eagles defense that approaches every morning practice like there is no tomorrow, he looks sharper and smoother these past several days.

Reid assessed how Kolb is settling into the job when the Birds' coach talked to reporters yesterday, following a sweltering a.m. workout. Reid recalled such a pick from last week, authored by Dimitri Patterson, and narrated how he'd seen Kolb handle the same situation differently yesterday.

"You saw where [cornerback] Asante [Samuel] read a play over on the right side; offensive right side. DeSean [Jackson] had run an 8-yard hitch route, and Asante squatted on it, just like we saw the other day. Kevin reared back, he went to throw it and then he held up; he pulled it back," Reid said.

"He threw it the other day, came back today and learned from it. Pumped it, checked it down, plus-8. That's what he's doing. When Kevin makes a mistake, he learns from it and he makes progress. That's a very important quality to have. The guys that make them over and over and over and over again, those guys can't play at this level. It doesn't work for them. He studies it, he sees it, which is important, and then he reacts to it, which is even more important."

Backup QB Michael Vick said: "He's just being patient. We had a discussion on patience, and how this is an offense where sometimes you've got to just dink-and-dunk and you'll get your big play. He's learning to do that, and he's been doing it the last 3 or 4 days, and practice has been great."

Kolb remembered both plays well, when he emerged from the field house where the Eagles dress following the afternoon session, his throwing arm encased in ice. (He is taking more practice reps than ever before.)

"That particular [Patterson] situation was going against the 'ones.' It wasn't a misread, it was a corner making a great play. Asante jumped the route today, and I was able to pull the string on it and go somewhere else and make the first down," Kolb said. "It wasn't one of those spectacular plays, but it's one of those ones where if you knew the situation, you'd go, 'Oh, there's improvement, right there.' I'm just trying to improve every single day, because, obviously, I have a lot to learn and a lot to get better at."

All of the talk about how Kolb might be more accurate than Donovan McNabb or run a more orthodox version of the West Coast offense kind of sidesteps this crucial point, which has been reinforced at Lehigh - that Kolb is very much a work in progress, and that this year is largely going to be about making mistakes, learning from them, and bouncing back. He's had 3 years to watch and learn, it isn't like starting a rookie, but two solid outings early last season don't make him anything close to a finished product, either.

Along those lines, Reid was asked yesterday if we might see the first-team offense a little more in the preseason opener Friday against visiting Jacksonville. He said no, the usual quarter or so of work ought to be about it; the focus, as usual, is going to be on evaluating young guys who are fighting for roster sports. But couldn't Kolb use more game-type action? His answer seemed to be that more preseason snaps against Jaguars subs aren't going to make the regular season any easier.

"Well, he's had a little bit," Reid said. "Now it's just a matter of, it's time to go play. Is it going to be perfect? No. That's not what it's going to be. He's going to have highs and lows, and he's just got to be consistent and work through them and stay confident, and he'll do that. He's a young quarterback that has an opportunity to start. Like I've said before, he doesn't have to compare himself to anybody or try to do anything that he can't do. He just needs to be himself and execute the offense and I think he's very capable of doing that."

Kolb has both his top wideouts back now, Jackson seemingly fully recovered from his back problem and Jeremy Maclin a full participant yesterday for the first time since suffering a bone bruise on a knee a week ago.

"I think he's done his job, man," Maclin said, when asked to assess how Kolb is doing. "I've said this since Day 1 - for a guy that hasn't played much in this league, he looks like a guy who's been starting 4 or 5 years."

Jackson's thoughts were unavailable, since he hasn't spoken to reporters since camp began, though there are signs that boycott might ease eventually.

Vick and Kolb noted that training camp is tough in that the Eagles' defense knows the Eagles' offense better than any opponent possibly could - it even knows the audible calls.

"We call it 'pattern read,' they know what pattern [they're looking at], they start jumping things because they know what concept is coming at them," Kolb said. "The really good ones are good at that. That's why Asante is really good at what he does. You have to be ready for it. The point Andy made to me is, inevitably, I'm the last one with the ball in my hands. It wasn't the wrong read. I was in good rhythm, but obviously, I'm the one that throws the ball. So if I have to pull the string on one because the corner makes a great play, then that's what you've got to be able to do."

Overall, Kolb said, he thinks things have been "really good."

"There's been some ups and downs," he said. "And there's going to be ups and downs, throughout camp. I think the best thing we've done is we've battled our tails off, as a group. We've got our guys [Jackson and Maclin] back healthy, and you can see the difference, already today. Obviously, there's room to grow and get better, but there's been consistent improvement."

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