No two-a-days for Eagles at camp

The site will be the same, but the routine will be different when the Eagles open training camp at Lehigh on Wednesday.

There will be less hitting and fewer high-intensity practices at camp under new rules in the labor deal that was completed on Monday.

"It will be a different training camp than what we've been running," Eagles president Joe Banner said Thursday in Atlanta, shortly after owners approved the labor settlement that players advanced Monday. "No two-a-days. Training camps kind of start a little more gradually, so you don't have huge hitting the day you get there."

The new rules apply to all teams, but the Eagles will be among those that see the most marked changes because coach Andy Reid typically runs one of the most strenuous camps in the league, the better, he believes, to see who will be strong enough to last the full season.

The rules put limits on the number of hitting practices allowed, the lengths of practices and increase the numbers of off days for players.

"There'll be afternoon practices, but they won't be padded, contact practices," Banner said. Instead, second practices, when they are held, will be "very light."

Camp begins Wednesday and will run at Lehigh through Aug. 17, when the Eagles will return to practices at the NovaCare Complex. The first day of camp will be limited to physicals and meetings. There will be no pads or contact on days two and three. Practices can last a maximum of three hours.

Once camp plans are final, the team plans to release a schedule so spectators know which days are likely to be more intense and which will be light. That will happen no sooner than Tuesday, the team said.