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Rain Relents for Lehigh Farewell

BETHLEHEM -- Usually at Lehigh, the Eagles get at least one morning that's really cool and rainy, to the extent that you wish you'd brought a jacket.

This year, that morning finally arrived on the final day of camp. The Eagles held their morning walkthrough indoors at Rauch Fieldhouse as a chilly downpour pelted the fields. But as Eagles coach Andy Reid noted afterward, the team was hoping the forecast for clearing by noon would allow a light afternoon session, starting at 2:45, and an opportunity to offically bid farewell to fans on what was scheduled as Fan Appreciation Day. Skies do seem to be clearing.

UPDATE: It's still a little grayish, but the rain did indseed stop and the Eagles are taking the field for an abbreviated outdoor practice, which will allow them to say goodbye to however many hearty fans braved the puddles to get here.

Asked what he learned about his team in three weeks in the foothills, Reid said: "The thing I was looking for, were they gonna carry over that energy that they had at the end of last season [when the Eagles won their final four games], that they brought into the OTAs, now could they bring it into this camp here? They seemed to do that. Now, does that mean that's going to carry you through? No, but it's a good foundation to start with. And then, are you gonna work hard? I thought they did that. They busted their tail, they weren't trying to get out of practice or look for the easy way out of a drill. They pushed themselves through and we got better.

"Do we have a long way to go? Absolutely. We need the rest of this preseason to get ourselves right for the season. But at least there's a foundation there to build on. I've got an idea of their personality. I like that part of it. But we've gotta go do it, and we've got to finish up these next few weeks very aggressively."

Reid said starters will play at least a half in the Monday preseason game at New England, less in the game four days later at Cleveland.

Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha did not take part in the walkthrough. Reid said he is day-to-day with whiplash-type symptoms, the day after Asomugha's scary collision with safety Nate Allen. Reid vigorously denied Asomugha ever lost consciousness, which would imply a concussion. the Eagles have said Asomugha has not suffered concussionlike symptoms.