Spirited hitting at Eagles training camp, especially from the free agents

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Saturday's practice was the most spirited and feisty yet at Lehigh. The morning session featured at least three scrums, sharp play on both sides of the ball, and a helmetless Michael Vick chasing a defensive end.

The tone was set early, particularly by some of the free-agent signees who had to wait an extra week to get into practice and who seemed to have lots of energy.

Defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove was shouting and wildly sprinting all over the field. When an incomplete pass bounced to an assistant on the sideline, about 10 yards from the line of scrimmage, Hargrove rushed over like a mad man.

"Ball! Ball! Ball!" he shouted, retrieving it and racing back to the huddle.

Rookie guard Danny Watkins and linebacker Moise Fokou mixed it up at one point. Guard Evan Mathis was involved in one of the later matches.

"We haven't been on the field for seven months," Mathis said. "There's a lot of pent-up rage we need to unleash."

Jason Babin said he was trying to instigate, but couldn't get anyone to scrap with him.

"We're going to be a nasty defense, [so] you've got to practice like a nasty defense," Babin said. "Everyone gets amped-up; it makes you go hard, makes it like a game."

Said Vick: "I don't know what happened today, there was just something in the air. . . . On both sides of the ball we were like, 'We're going to win on each and every down.' "

Vick was outstanding. Even without his top targets, he found Johnnie Lee Higgins deep once and then Chad Hall, who beat Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Kurt Coleman.

Vick wrapped up a two-minute drill with a touchdown to Jason Avant. In a goal-line drill he rolled left and threaded a pass to Riley Cooper for a touchdown among a crowd of defenders.

The defensive front was aggressive, but Vick said he's improved at countering blitzes.

"Last year it was probably like 50 percent, this year it's more like 75 percent," he said. "I still have a ways to go and just being to see it and recognize it, know when it's coming, learning each and every day."

The Asante Samuel show is in midseason form. The mouthy cornerback kept fans revved with his constant chatter and antics. First he taunted coaches into letting him cover Cooper in a drill, then wildly high-stepped after forcing an incomplete pass, drawing cheers.

Later, he stood over Avant after a missed pass and, with perfect comic timing, delivered an exaggerated incomplete signal. When the defense stopped the offense in a goal-line drill, he shouted at offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg: "Time for another field goal, Marty!"

Joselio Hanson continues to be the first-choice nickel back, with Nnamdi Asomugha and Samuel starting on the corners.

Asomugha showed his instincts on a play in which Brent Celek lined up wide, with the big corner covering. The play was a swing to LeSean McCoy, but Asomugha recognized it and raced to the ball for what would have been a tackle for little gain.

Asomugha went to the trainer's tent early Saturday to get his ankle taped. He went back to some of the drills, but did a lot of watching from the sideline.

Rodgers-Cromartie stepped in as first-team right corner and continued to show impressive bursts to the ball.

Asomugha was not on the official injury report.

Darryl Tapp raced in on Mike Kafka on one play, tipping a pass into the air, intercepting it, and running the length of the field with the ball as the defensive sideline erupted. Vick, helmetless and not in the drill, gave chase. Tapp tried a stiff arm.

Avant made an acrobatic catch for a score, twisting and reeling in a Vick pass with one hand. . . . Vince Young had Stanley Havili wide open in the flat and missed by an acre. It wasn't the only such misfire.