Smith has yet to meet McCoy

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - It's bound to be an awkward moment.

When the Eagles acquired free agent Steve Smith on Wednesday, a reporter brought up the former New York Giants receiver's involvement in the war of words between now-former teammate Osi Umenyiora and new teammate LeSean McCoy.

As the running back and defensive end were exchanging insults - McCoy called Umenyiora "overrated" and "soft" on Twitter, Umenyiora called McCoy "Lady Gaga" to a reporter - Smith chimed in with a Twitter post about "youngins running their mouth" with a link to a picture of an empty Eagles trophy case.

"I'll go up to LeSean the first day I see him," Smith said during a conference call, "and shake his hand and hug him and tell them that was all just Twitter beef."

Smith has been at Lehigh since Friday, but McCoy said he had yet to come up to him.

"I don't even know what he looks like," McCoy said on Sunday.

As is normally the case, the Eagles defense is ahead of the offense during training camp. But on Sunday, when the fields were soggy from overnight storms, Juan Castillo's defensive units dominated the offense during team drills.

And this isn't the first-team defense going up against the second-team offense as in years past when live hitting periods were allowed. It's the ones, twos, and threes paired off against each other.

During the blitzing period, quarterback Michael Vick completed 3 of 5 passes in the first set of plays. But he struggled the rest of the way, during the red-zone period.

Defensive ends Trent Cole and Jason Babin recorded sacks - or at least what qualifies for a sack in practice - during red-zone plays. When practice shifted to seven-on-seven run drills, middle linebacker Casey Matthews shot into the backfield and stopped McCoy on two of three plays.

"If you can play fast, be physical, and then play fundamentally sound," Castillo said, "then you have a chance."

Offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who has a pained gait because of back and knee issues, has had to spend part of his practice time during camp in a cart.

When the horn sounded to end the morning session on Sunday, he beckoned his driver to head to the huddle. The cart wouldn't move because of the wet field, however. The ever-irascible Mudd jumped out, barked at the young driver, and walked himself.

Tight end Brent Celek effectively blocked Babin during one McCoy run. Celek has battled blocking issues before but has spent a good amount of camp working with Mudd and the offensive linemen.

Cornerback Trevard Lindley nicely broke up a deep pass from quarterback Mike Kafka to wide receiver Rod Harper. Lindley, a 2010 fourth-round pick, has gotten lost in the shuffle among the star cornerbacks and the solid play of rookie Curtis Marsh.

A number of Vick's completed passes in the red zone went to DeSean Jackson on short routes, with the receiver taking one into the end zone. With Jeremy Maclin still out with an illness, the Eagles may need to find another red-zone threat. Seven of Maclin's 10 touchdowns last season came from inside the 20-yard line.

Cornerback Brandon Hughes played on the second team for a few team periods. The cornerback depth on defense is frightening.

Castillo has maintained his energy into the third week of camp. During a run drill he jumped into a play to congratulate a linebacker and was nearly run over by running back Dion Lewis.