Dustup of Eagles assistants part of fabric of dying season

WITH THE Eagles playing again Thursday at Seattle, reporters aren't going to get to talk to Marty Mornhinweg this week, until after the game. The usual weekly press conferences with the coordinators aren't being held.

So by the time we get a chance to ask Marty about his dustup on the sideline with defensive-line coach Jim Washburn during Sunday's crushing loss to the Patriots, it will be very old news.

But the fact that two of Andy Reid's coaches had to be separated during the first half of a game, and were said to be still jawing as they came onto the field for the second half, will become part of the lore of a lost 2011 season.

Doesn't matter if they were arguing about Mornhinweg's play selection, as several people have speculated (but a league source with knowledge of the situation denies) or about Mornhinweg bumping into Washburn, as per an Inquirer report last night. Something that might be downgraded to a joking matter on a winning team becomes evidence of dysfunction when you're losing.

If this ends up being the final season of Reid's 13-year tenure, part of the postscript will be that by the end, his assistants were yelling at each other on the sideline.

"That's a tough situation. That should never happen, coaches or players," running back LeSean McCoy said yesterday. "We're in this thing together. I guess things happen . . . you might have disagreements, guys might feel a certain type of way, but you work it out, get past it and get through it."

Wideout Riley Cooper said: "In the course of a game, there's always bullets flying. Sometimes players argue, sometimes coaches argue, brothers and sisters argue. You really don't look too much into it; you've just gotta play the game."

Cooper said the argument had no effect on the team or its performance.

"Winning cures everything," tight end Brent Celek said. "You don't want to see that, but stuff happens."

But does it, really? Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, who witnessed the disagreement but didn't want to comment on it yesterday, was asked if this sort of thing happens a lot.

"Ummm. No," Jenkins said.

"That's nothing I want to focus on," left guard Evan Mathis said. "Are they the Seahawks?"

"I didn't see it happen," center Jason Kelce said. "All I can go on is what I've heard about it . . . Any time you're losing, the way we've been, for the most part every game this season, we've been in . . . [Sunday, when that wasn't the case] emotions were high for everybody. I think everybody was a little upset; I know I was very upset out there on the field. You get a little agitated, you could lose your composure in situations like that."

Kelce said his impression was that Mornhinweg and Washburn "have already made amends."

It was only a walkthrough for the Eagles yesterday, so there was considerable speculation that even if Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin participated, it might not mean they were playing Thursday night at Seattle. That speculation was rendered moot when the Eagles' practice report listed Vick and Maclin as nonparticipants, and said they would not have taken part in a normal practice, had one been held.

Today will be the only real practice for the Seattle game, and based on yesterday, there doesn't seem to be much reason to expect Vick (ribs) or Maclin (hamstring) to be out there - or to play Thursday.

Corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (ankle) was listed as a limited participant, as were defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins (thumb) and running back LeSean McCoy (toe). Jenkins and McCoy are expected to play.

DeSean Jackson said he would like to be back with the Eagles next season, "if it works out."

Jackson, benched during the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss after dropping a pair of sure touchdown passes, has been unhappy for about 2 years, as he plays out his rookie contract for about $600,000 this season. The Eagles have declined to give him the top-tier deal he thinks he deserves. It seems likely they will franchise him for next season, possibly to trade him. If they don't want to gamble on possibly having to pay the money, they could just let him walk as an unrestricted free agent, but that would be extraordinary, for a healthy two-time Pro Bowl player who will have recently turned 25.

Jackson said the Eagles have to "go out there every week and give our best effort, regardless of our record . . . Just play hard."

Daily News sports writer Zach Berman contributed to this report.