Order up another round of he's-just-a-rookie pleas from Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb, on behalf of DeSean Jackson. See if you can get them FedExed to the Nova-Care Complex, right away. (Oops, poor word choice, FedEx sounds a lot like FredEx, and that might interfere with the positive vibes.)

Reggie Brown sat out yesterday's practice with that sore left hamstring. This was especially notable in that Brown had been a partial participant in Wednesday's workout and had seemed on target to play in Sunday's opener against the visiting St. Louis Rams. If Brown remains off the field today, you can pretty much count on Jackson and either Greg Lewis or Hank Baskett being the starting wideouts for your Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, given that Kevin Curtis is out after sports-hernia surgery.

In such a scenario, it would be really, really, really hard to keep the spotlight off Jackson.

Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg already seemed to have jettisoned that idea when Mornhinweg spoke with reporters yesterday, before practice. Asked what he expected of Jackson, Mornhinweg ditched the usual cautionary script.

"I would expect him to play at a high level on a consistent basis. We'll leave it right there," Mornhinweg said.

But isn't it unreasonable to expect a lot from a rookie in his first game?

"No," Mornhinweg said. "We expect a lot from all of our players on the field."

Gosh, didn't the coordinator need to talk to the kid about how to prepare mentally for his first start?

"I don't think you need to go there. He's in his element," Mornhinweg said. "I don't think he'll have any problems that way."

After practice, someone mentioned to Jackson that the Rams have designated an offensive scout-team player as No. 10 this week — in other words, they are including Jackson in their preparation, "putting a jersey on him," in NFL parlance. It's an honor accorded only to playmakers.

Jackson said he pretty much expected that, given the Rams' interest in him before the April draft. St. Louis had the second pick of the second round, 33rd overall. The Rams took a more solidly built speedster, Houston's Donnie Avery (5-11, 194) over Jackson (5-10, 175), who lasted until the Eagles' 49th overall selection.

"I kind of got that on my mind," Jackson acknowledged. "That was one of the teams that kind of told me they wanted me and all that stuff. Being young, and kind of knowing how the process goes, I kind of understand now. I have that in the back of my mind."

Meanwhile, Brown seemed to be moving just fine as he zipped past reporters following practice.

"Don't know yet," he said, when asked about his status for Sunday.

Andrews ready

Right guard Shawn Andrews said he feels good and is ready to start the season Sunday against the Rams. Andrews missed 17 days of training camp while battling depression.

"I think right now I'm probably in the best shape of my life, physically," Andrews said yesterday. "Mentally, I'm still getting better. Just being here amongst my guys, I feel like I'm above and beyond where I need to be."

The Rams had a lot of trouble stopping the run last year. Even though it isn't Andy Reid's hallmark, exactly, don't be surprised to see Andrews leading the way for Brian Westbrook, Andrews bearing down on a helpless linebacker after roaring off the line.

Birdseed

Defensive coordinator Jim John-son said Lito Sheppard is not taking onto the field his dissatisfaction over not starting and not being traded. "I see a guy competing and playing hard," Johnson said. He said Sheldon Brown is the right-side starter ahead of Sheppard because that has been Brown's spot since 2004, but he reiterated that he expects to use the trio of Sheppard, Brown and left-side starter Asante Samuel "60 to 70 percent of the time." *