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Eagles address signing of Tim Tebow

Ed Marynowitz says the quarterback's role 'will be determined by his performance. It's as simple as that.'

THREE DAYS after signing Tim Tebow, the Eagles yesterday finally got around to commenting on the decision to bring him in.

"We were intrigued by what we saw at the workout [in March],'' vice president of player personnel Ed Marynowitz said. "We saw a player that had improved since the last time we saw him live when he was here [last summer] with New England.

"We had some conversations and discussions and felt it was an opportunity to bring him in and compete for a [roster] spot. His role will be determined by his performance. It's as simple as that.''

Some other highlights from Marynowitz's 40-minute pre-draft Q & A with reporters:

* On whether Landon Collins, who is regarded by many as the only first-round-worthy safety in the draft, but is considered more of an in-the-box strong safety, would be a poor fit for the Eagles' defensive scheme: "He can do it to a degree. All these guys have strengths and weaknesses. Landon has the potential to do that. Maybe not to the degree that some other guys do. But he certainly has the ability to do it.''

Between-the-lines translation: There is no way in hell the Eagles will be drafting Collins.

Later yesterday in a conference call with reporters, NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said he actually expects Arizona State safety Damarious Randall to be taken ahead of Collins. "He's by far the best cover safety in the draft,'' Mayock said of Randall. "Two months ago, he was considered a third- or fourth-round pick. Now, he's a first-round pick and he's going to go ahead of Collins because Collins is more of a box safety or a dime linebacker.'' Randall likely still will be on the board when the Eagles pick at No. 20.

* On whether Marynowitz, who played quarterback at La Salle and Central Florida before getting into scouting, was a draft geek when he was young: "Everybody always asks, did you want to coach? If you've played or been involved in football, most people want to be involved in coaching. But I never was interested in getting involved in a coaching capacity. I always liked this side of it in terms of roster-management, team-building, the draft, player personnel, player evaluations. That got me going a lot more than coaching did. But I never had a big [draft] board or skipped school to study the draft or any of that stuff. I was playing.''

* On the Eagles' former player personnel VP Tom Gamble, who was fired on Dec. 31: "Tom was a great mentor for me. I'm still in constant communication with Tom. I had no control over what happened here or why that happened. But our relationship will not change. He's a personal and professional friend of mine.''

* On whether the Eagles have talked to any teams about trading up or down: "There have been a few that already have been received on our end from [other] teams. People are kind of gauging your interest right now. The majority of those calls will happen next week, and then, as the players start to come off the board, that's when the phones will be ringing a lot more.''

* On the differences between Kelly and his former boss at Alabama, Nick Saban: "Nick has his own way of communicating with players. Where Chip is a little bit on the other side of the spectrum on that. I've got a lot of respect for Nick Saban. He's been unbelievable to me. His approach is good for some players, not good for other players. Chip's approach, I think in terms of being able to communicate with the pro player and handle those guys is exceptional.''