Lehigh still likely site of Eagles camp

Andy Reid and the Eagles will return to Lehigh for training camp - if it begins when the owners want it to - taking the team to a familiar place for preparations after a highly unusual offseason.

With NFL owners approving a deal on Thursday to end the lockout, team owner Jeffrey Lurie said camp was likely to begin in the same late-July time frame as usual, though the Eagles did not announce exact camp dates Thursday and the players have not approved the agreement.

The Eagles, who have trained at Lehigh since 1996, traditionally open camp in late July and remain there through mid-August.

Players are crammed together in dorm rooms on the mountain campus, and thousands of fans fill stands to watch Reid put his team through practices in scorching heat.

Those summer traditions should all be back. But there will be some changes.

The labor deal calls for a reduction in two-a-day practices and full-pad hitting, changes which might force Reid to run a slightly lighter camp. He typically prefers a hard, grinding schedule, which he believes helps sort out who has the fortitude for the rigors of an NFL season.

Many teams will likely have to focus more on teaching in any case, since they all lost spring practices.

Even before the NFL labor deal moved to a final stage, bleachers and tents began going up at the school's fields, an indication that the Eagles would return again this summer.