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Every Saturday, we do this mailbag thing, where I go through and take questions -- one for each team, generally. This week, I have to say, the mailbag's a little thin. I know it's been a slow week, but those happen. I still need the questions. Step up your game, mailbaggers! (Just kidding. You guys know I love you no matter what. And reading through some of these mailbag questions, I really mean no matter what.)

James from Blacksburg, Va., is a Virginia Tech student and a fan of cornerback Jayron Hosley, the third-round pick of the New York Giants. He's enjoying the publicity Hosley is getting as a candidate for the nickel cornerback spot with the Super Bowl champs, but he wonders if it's not fairer to assume that second-year cornerback Prince Amukamara (last year's first-round pick) should be expected to take a bigger 2012 leap than Hosley.

Dan Graziano: Yes, James. People tend to be prisoners of the moment, and for that reason this year's picks seem more exciting at this point than maybe last year's do -- especially when last year's is someone like Amukamara, who didn't make the kind of impact fans might have expected him to make as a rookie. But assuming he's over his foot problems, and given a full season and offseason in a Giants organization that likes to stress player development, yes, I would expect Amukamara to make a major leap forward and have a better chance of contributing on defense this year than Hosley should in his first year with the Giants. Just the way things work there. Also, by the way, I was covering the Yankees in March of 2008 when they went to play that game at Virginia Tech. Loved the campus. Beautiful, with all of the "Hokie Stone" buildings. That was a special day.

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Mark from Bossier City, La., is "concerned the Dallas Cowboys did not do enough to address their weaknesses in the interior of both their lines," and says he thinks specifically of the way the Cowboys were dominated on the interior of the offensive and defensive lines in the two late-season games against the Giants that effectively cost Dallas the division title.

DG: Yeah, I think your concern is legitimate, Mark. On the defensive side, they remain committed to Jay Ratliff at nose tackle (as opposed to moving him to defensive end), and the big problem with Ratliff is the way he wears down late in the season. If someone like Josh Brent can take a step forward and give Ratliff more of a breather earlier in the year, they might get to December with Ratliff still playing his best. Part of the problem in those two Giants games was that Ratliff was banged up. As for the offense, they like the two guards they drafted last year -- David Arkin and Bill Nagy -- and they specifically targeted free agents Nate Livings and Mackenzy Bernadeau this year. So while, as you point out, Livings and Bernadeau don't come with the most stellar resumes, there's something about both guys they think can work for them. They believe that something will emerge in training camp from the deep mix of guards they've brought in over the past two offseasons, and they might be right. My issue is that I think center was their biggest problem last season, and I don't know yet whether Nagy or Bernadeau can be an upgrade over Phil Costa if they decide Costa's still not good enough.

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Jeff from Gainesville, Va., wrote in with a number of questions, but the one I'm going to address is about the Washington Redskins' running back situation. Jeff thinks that, with Tim Hightower still unsigned and Roy Helu and Evan Royster each entering just his second season, that it looks as though two or three backs will share the load and perhaps rookie Alfred Morris will move to fullback.

DG: Not sure what the plans are for Morris, but I agree that you can expect to see a couple of different backs rotate in and out of the "starting" role for the Redskins in 2012. Mike Shanahan's record on this front makes that an easy prediction. I know that they consider Hightower the most complete back of the bunch and the preferred starter if he re-signs and proves healthy. But there's plenty they like about both Helu and Royster, and at various times this year I'd expect to see either or both of them as a major factor. As any fantasy football player will tell you, there's no way to know from week to week which Shanahan back to expect.

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Alex from Iowa wants to know if Philadelphia Eagles rookie wide receiver Marvin McNutt could be "Jason Avant 2.0," since "he's slightly bigger and faster with the possibility that he can develop even better hands."

DG: Sure, Alex. While Avant's been a valuable contributor at times over the past couple of years, he has yet to seize an opportunity to jump up to the next level when injuries/suspensions/whatever have thrust those upon him. They obviously see something they like in McNutt, and I believe that the Eagles' wide receiver picture behind DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin is wide open. I would not be surprised if a rookie got and took advantage of an opportunity to earn significant playing time, especially considering that tight end Brent Celek might be needed more as a blocker due to the injury to left tackle Jason Peters.

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That's this week's mailbag, but we can do better. By Wednesday of next week, I want to be looking through this mailbag and seeing so many questions that I have to do a midweek mailbag as well as a weekend one. Maybe a video one, too. Remember those? Let's go, folks. Keep the questions coming!

Busy day for injury news in the NFC East, with the most recent and surprising being the announcement by the New York Giants that starting left tackle Will Beatty will have surgery Thursday to repair a detached retina in his right eye. There's no timetable yet for Beatty's return from the surgery. Presumably, he'll need some time to get his vision all the way back, and doctors will have to assure him that he's not putting his eye in unusual danger before they clear him to play again.

What the Giants will do in Beatty's absence they have not yet said. They play Monday, so their normal practice schedule this week is pushed back a day and they didn't practice or speak with the media as they would on a normal Wednesday. Coach Tom Coughlin held conference calls with members of the New York and New Orleans media, but those took place before the Beatty news broke, so he didn't address it. They could either just replace Beatty with backup tackle Stacy Andrews or move left guard David Diehl back to left tackle and play Kevin Boothe at left guard. Neither is an appealing option for an offensive line that's already struggling.

In other Giants injury news, Coughlin told Saints reporters that running back Ahmad Bradshaw's broken foot was feeling better. Coughlin said that he didn't know if Bradshaw would practice Thursday but that he expected the Giants to be "in pretty good shape" at running back. No idea what that means about Bradshaw for this week. And there's no update on the status of the hamstring injury that kept linebacker Michael Boley out of Sunday's game.

Washington Redskins

Good news, finally, on the injury front for the Redskins. Top wide receiver Santana Moss, who broke his hand in Week 7's loss to Carolina and has missed four games, is expected to play Sunday. The Redskins missed Moss not just as a receiver but also as a blocker as their offense struggled badly for about a month before Sunday's game against Dallas. Quarterback Rex Grossman will be happy to have him back. It also sounds as though safety LaRon Landry expects to play Sunday and left tackle Trent Williams, who injured his knee Sunday, was announced as a "limited" participant in Wednesday's practice.

Dallas Cowboys

Nothing really new or particularly happy to report on the Cowboys' injury front. Receiver Miles Austin, fullback Tony Fiammetta, cornerback Mike Jenkins and backup quarterback Jon Kitna have all been ruled out of Thursday's game against the Dolphins. (The Kitna injury is one reason, certainly, that the Cowboys put in a waiver claim on quarterback Kyle Orton on Wednesday when he was claimed by the Chiefs. The other reason was likely to keep him away from the Bears -- a team with which the Cowboys may end up competing for a playoff spot.) Safety Gerald Sensabaugh and running back Felix Jones are questionable due to their injuries. The Dallas secondary struggled without Jenkins last week, and losing Sensabaugh would make life difficult against Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall.

Philadelphia Eagles

No practice for quarterback Michael Vick, as Vince Young took all of the first-team reps again and looks likely to make his second straight start Sunday against the Patriots. Andy Reid said in his news conference that Vick had done a little bit of throwing and wouldn't yet rule him out, but that he still feels pain in the area of his broken ribs. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson missed practice with a foot injury, and his status for Sunday is unknown. And wide receiver Jeremy Maclin was a limited practice participant. He's apparently got a Grade 2 shoulder separation and says whether he can play Sunday will come down to how much pain he's in. Not sure on shoulder separations, but I'm betting the pain that comes with them is pretty significant. Maclin also has a hamstring injury that continues to cause him problems. So whoever starts at quarterback for the Eagles on Sunday could be throwing a lot of passes to Riley Cooper and Jason Avant.

So, the Philadelphia Eagles finally won a close game in the fourth quarter, and it was backup quarterback Vince Young who led the game-winning drive. And because they've lost so many close games in the fourth quarter this year and starting quarterback Michael Vick has not led any game-winning drives, this is going to raise eyebrows. Prompt chatter. Lead some people to argue that Young should remain the starter even once Vick returns from his broken ribs. I'm fairly certain my friend Skip Bayless is going to go on "First Take" this morning, rattle that table with his fist and argue this very point. (See below).

But he's wrong. And as another Overreaction Monday dawns in the NFL, everyone who thinks the Eagles would be better off with Young as the starting quarterback needs to take a step back and a deep breath and think about what they're saying. I can understand the rush to celebrate a fourth quarter finally gone right for a team that's blown fourth-quarter leads in five of its six losses. But it's important to remember how awful Young was in the first three, and to understand that if you play the first three quarters like that every week, you won't often get the chance to blow a lead in the fourth.

"It got better as it went on," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "He kept firing, which you have to do. He had a couple of turnovers, but he came right back. He didn't flinch, like the seasoned veteran that he is."

One of the reasons the Eagles signed Young to be Vick's backup quarterback is that they thought, because of his 30-17 record as an NFL quarterback, he was the kind of guy who could step in and win them a game or two if Vick had to sit out with an injury. Sunday night's victory over the Giants delivered on that signing, even though it probably wasn't enough to make up for that regrettable "Dream Team" news conference the whole team has been trying to live down ever since. And if Vick doesn't heal in time and Young has to play against the Patriots on Sunday, it's certainly possible he could find a way to pull out another win.

But it's far from certain, and the way Young threw the ball for most of Sunday's game, I don't think the Eagles would want to count on it. Maybe for one week, maybe two, but not over any kind of long term. A healthy Vick is still a considerably better thrower and runner of the ball, and the Eagles' offense needs him back if it's to function at its accustomed high level for 60 minutes a week.

"I'd rather just take it day by day," Reid said. "Mike's a good player. I'm pretty fortunate I have three good quarterbacks. We're lucky that way. We'll just see how things go with Mike. I'm not going to put him in a bad position, that's for sure."

Whoever plays quarterback for the Eagles on Sunday will look a lot better if the Eagles' defense and offensive line play the way they played Sunday night at the Meadowlands. The Eagles won this game not because of Vince Young, but because they outmuscled the Giants physically in the trenches all night. They cut off the Giants' running game. They pressured Eli Manning. They kept the Giants' formidable pass rush off of Young long enough for him to make plays.

And make plays he did. There were moments where he did things Vick doesn't do -- pull up just before crossing the line of scrimmage and spotting an open receiver. Sometimes he even managed to throw it to that open receiver, though often he missed quite badly.

"He got better as he went, and he trusted his ability," Reid said. "That's important -- to have that confidence."

Yes, Young led the winning, 18-play drive, converting an incredible six third downs along the way. And, yes, he deserves credit for that. But he doesn't deserve all of the credit for it. For instance, I'm pretty sure even he doesn't know how Jason Avant came up with that one catch down by his feet.

"That's just the kind of athlete he is," Young said of Avant.

You can make a similar comment about Young, whose NFL career to this point has been based on his abilities as an athlete and not as anything sustainable he's done as a starting quarterback. He hasn't started more than 10 games in a season since his second year in the league, and there are mountains of reasons for that. Immaturity is one, but the more important one to this argument is inconsistency. Young has flashed game-winning brilliance, but he's never been able to get away, for long stretches, from game-losing incompetence. And if the Eagles installed him as their starting quarterback, that would show up eventually. It always has with Young, and Sunday night's three-interception magic act did little to prove that it won't again.

The best move for the Eagles, once Vick is healthy enough, is to thank Young for doing the job of backup quarterback very well and put him right back on the bench. At this point in his career, that's what he is -- a backup. Just because he's a good backup doesn't make him a starter.

The Philadelphia Eagles will play the New York Giants on Sunday night without the help of starting quarterback Michael Vick and top wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. The team officially announced Saturday that Vick and Maclin have been downgraded from "questionable" to "out" due to their injuries and will not travel with the team.

Vick broke two ribs in Sunday's loss to Arizona and Maclin is dealing with shoulder and hamstring injuries. Neither player practiced at all this past week.

Backup quarterback Vince Young, whose only pass so far this season was intercepted by Washington's DeAngelo Hall, is likely to start in Vick's place, though the team made no official announcement on that. Maclin is likely to be replaced by Jason Avant, Riley Cooper or possibly former Giant Steve Smith as a starting wide receiver opposite DeSean Jackson. Avant started last week opposite Maclin in place of Jackson, who was benched for that game because he missed a team meeting the day before.

As you get ready for this afternoon's home game against the Arizona Cardinals, here's one reason for Philadelphia Eagles fans to feel good and one reason for concern:

Feeling good: Even with DeSean Jackson benched for missing a Saturday meeting, the Eagles still have plenty of passing-game weapons with which to take advantage of the Cardinals' suspect secondary. Assuming the Eagles can keep the heat off of Michael Vick with the offensive line and the running game as they have been lately, Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and Brent Celek ought to be able to get open and make some big plays down the field. The Cardinals can be run on, too, which bodes well for Philadelphia's No. 1-ranked rush offense. Expect a lot of LeSean McCoy and a couple of designed run plays by Vick.

Cause for concern: Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald is the major cause for concern for every team the Cardinals play, and the Eagles' coverages have been a cause for concern this season even against lesser wideouts. It will be interesting to see how much Philadelphia uses Nnamdi Asomugha in coverage on Fitzgerald and, when they do, whether he plays 5-to-10 yards off of him the way the Eagles have been playing their corners most of this season. If they can't tighten up on Fitzgerald, he's likely to burn them at least once.

Friday links, hot-n-fresh.

New York Giants

Everybody wants to know when Prince Amukamara will take the field, and the Giants' coaches are no exception. The rookie first-round pick is being pushed a bit harder in practice this week due to the team's need for depth at the cornerback position, but the Giants have to balance their desire to see Amukamara play with the wisdom of rushing him back from a broken foot.

The Giants are pushing always-injured receiver Ramses Barden in practice this week, too, and that's because it's starting to sound as though Hakeem Nicks' hamstring injury is likely to keep him out of Sunday's game at New England. Barden would be for depth, because I think we've seen in the past that it takes Eli Manning a little bit of time to really trust a receiver. I'd expect Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham to get the catches that would normally belong to Nicks.

Philadelphia Eagles

Sheil Kapadia says Nnamdi Asomugha covered Jason Witten on 12 of 40 plays Sunday night -- more than any other Eagles defender. The idea is that this is significant because (a) it's a thing that the Eagles have had trouble stopping tight ends for a long time now and (b) the fact that Asomugha was able to cover Witten sometimes and other of the Cowboys' receivers at other times indicates an improved level of flexibility and agility in the Eagles' defensive schemes. Asomugha seemed to have more fun in this game than in any other he's played for the Eagles so far, and that's likely because he and others have begun to feel far more comfortable in the defense.

I'm sorry, but I'm with receiver Jason Avant on his fan comments. Fans can't boo their own team and make signs demanding the coach be fired and expect the team to offer hugs and kisses once things start going well again. Reap what you sow and all of that. If the team or some of its players have a testy relationship with the fans, I think the fans (at least in a case like this) would do well to examine their own role in having brought that about.

Dallas Cowboys

Sean Lee is trying everything he can do to be ready to play Sunday, including getting fitted for a cast for his dislocated wrist. It remains to be seen whether Lee can play Sunday or anytime soon or at all for the rest of this season, but the linebacker promises he's going to try.

The Cowboys say Tony Romo's not being reined in, and the lack of a downfield passing game has more to do with the struggles of the offensive line and an increased emphasis on the run game. I buy this, but they'd better hope it's temporary if they really want to be 2011 contenders.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins' offensive line is certainly suffering for its injuries, but at least center Erik Cook is the kind of guy who can make everybody around him laugh.

Barry Svrluga takes a look at why the Redskins' defense has struggled against the run and what they plan to do about it, though it's tough to imagine them fixing it in time to stop Frank Gore on Sunday.

PHILADELPHIA -- Some thoughts from the Philadelphia Eagles' 34-7 dismantling of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field:

What it means: For the Eagles, it means they're now 13-0 under Andy Reid in games immediately following bye weeks. It also means they're in position to get on the kind of roll that could get them back into contention. It might have been easy for some to dismiss their previous victory, two weeks ago against Rex Grossman and the Redskins. But they were intense and focused and mistake-free as they built an insurmountable lead Sunday night against a hated division rival, and that's a lot tougher to dismiss. For the Cowboys, it means they're 3-4 and embarrassed. I don't think it means they're cooked, however. Their losses are to the Eagles, Jets, Patriots and Lions -- teams with a combined record of 18-11 -- and three of those losses were on the road. The combined record of the teams remaining on the Cowboys' schedule is 23-33.

Run, Eagles, run: The Cowboys went into the game as the top-ranked run defense in the league, allowing an average of 69.7 rush yards per game. But the Eagles wrecked that average in the first quarter, in which they ran for 115, and kept running and running all night. Running back LeSean McCoy had 185 yards on the ground. Quarterback Michael Vick had 50 more. And the Eagles, who were killing themselves with turnovers earlier this season, look as though they might have found a safe recipe for offensive success going forward. McCoy is one of the very best backs in the league and doesn't appear to mind a heavy workload. After getting 28 carries two weeks ago in Washington, he got 30 more Sunday night.

Out-muscled in the trenches: The Eagles' offensive line has taken a lot of criticism this season, but in truth, it is a very good run-blocking line that has struggled at times in pass protection. The Eagles look to be shoring things up, and aside from DeMarcus Ware's four sacks, they won all night against the Dallas front. The same could not be said for Dallas' offensive line, which is banged up and didn't appear to have enough overall strength to handle the Eagles' defensive line. The Cowboys hardly possessed the ball during the part of the game that could reasonably be described as competitive, but when they did, they were able to do almost nothing with it.

Soft in the middle: The Eagles were able to gain big chunks of yardage all night across the middle of the field, as Vick repeatedly found Jason Avant and heretofore forgotten tight end Brent Celek in critical spots. ESPN Stats & Information says Vick was 18-for-20 for 258 yards and a touchdown when throwing between the numbers. Celek led the team with seven catches, and Avant was second with five. Vick was making smart decisions and protecting the ball better than he had earlier in the season, but he also was hitting wide-open receivers, which makes anybody look good. The Cowboys' defense clearly suffered once inside linebacker Sean Lee went out with a wrist injury, and if Lee has to miss significant time, they should continue to struggle. It was clear, once Lee left the game, how much of the Cowboys' defensive success this season has been tied to his emergence. Veteran Keith Brooking had a horrible game.

Tighter coverage: Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was the most trumpeted free-agent signing of the offseason, but he'd been a disappointment through the team's first six games. On Sunday night, the Eagles used him in tighter coverage than they had for most of the early part of the season, and he was able to limit several of the Cowboys' offensive weapons. Whether he was on Jason Witten, Dez Bryant or Miles Austin, Asomugha was all over the field and playing the part the Eagles hired him to play.

What's next: The Cowboys limp back to Texas, where they get a cushy home game Sunday afternoon against the 2-5 Seattle Seahawks. They should be able to work out some of their issues against a team that presents far fewer athletic challenges with its offense than do the Eagles. Philadelphia gets an extra day to rest and/or practice before taking on the Chicago Bears at home on "Monday Night Football" on Nov. 7.

Lots of newsy tidbits out of Philadelphia Eagles practice today, not the least of which is the news (courtesy here of Les Bowen) that wide receiver Jason Avant called a players-only meeting "to stress sticking together and to reinforce the notion that the Eagles have the talent to work their way out of their dreadful 1-4 start, middle linebacker Jamar Chaney said."

"Everybody was calm," Chaney said. "You don't want to get heated right now; it ain't no time to panic. We know what we're capable of doing, and we're not going to panic. We've had a few bad games, four bad games, but at the end of the day, we don't think those four teams are better than us. They won the games ... we just have to go out there and do a better job of playing the whole game, on offense and defense ... when it's all said and done, we don't think no team can beat us, but we've been doing a good job of beating ourselves lately, and we've got to stop doing that."

Talking is good, and potentially helpful. Chaney went on to say he felt the meeting helped "the sense of urgency for practice today," and certainly that sense of urgency is something that's been lacking with the Eagles this year. They surely don't want to be 1-5 heading into their bye week, and they wouldn't want to be 1-5 even if they weren't heading into their bye week. Since the current playoff format was adopted in 1990, 100 teams have started 1-4 and only five of them have made the playoffs. Each of those five teams won its sixth game and was 2-4 instead of 1-5.

Thing is, we won't know until we actually see it whether the Eagles are capable of cutting out the mistakes that keep allowing them to beat themselves. They can talk all they want, to each other, to their coaches, to us ... whatever. But every week, they go out on the field and play the same insufficient game. Once that stops, then we'll all have something new to talk about.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- With 1:23 left in Sunday's game, fourth-and-inches to go from midfield and a seven-point lead, the Buffalo Bills had a choice. They could punt the ball away and force the Philadelphia Eagles to go the length of the field to tie the score, or they could go for it, knowing the game would be over if they picked up those couple of inches. They called a time out to talk it over and chose a third option -- let the Eagles make a critical mistake.

Good call.

The Bills lined up as though planning to run a play, but quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick just sat behind center barking out his cadence. He barked and barked, and finally ...

"They got me," Eagles defensive lineman Juqua Parker said.

Parker jumped offside, and the penalty gave the Bills the first down that clinched a 31-24 victory that dropped the Eagles to 1-4. It was the Eagles' fifth penalty of the game and third of the fourth quarter. And while it was the mistake that ultimately decided the game, it had plenty of help from its friends.

In addition to the penalties, Philadelphia committed five turnovers -- four Michael Vick interceptions and one lost fumble -- dropped a couple of key passes, missed enough tackles that Bills running back Fred Jackson got 59 of his 111 rushing yards after first contact, and generally played the kind of loose, undisciplined game we've become used to seeing from the 2011 Eagles.

"There's nobody to blame but me," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "That's how I look at it."

Funny. That's how I look at it too. Reid has been an outstanding NFL coach since taking over the Eagles in 1999, but he's doing a lousy job coaching this season's team. The Eagles have electrifying talent all over the field, but the players play as though they haven't been coached on how to handle game situations. They don't take care of the ball in spots where it needs to be a priority. They don't make good decisions. They look like a team that either didn't practice or didn't pay attention in practice all week, and that's on the coaches, no matter what the players say.

"I think, at this point, it's out of the coaches' hands," said Vick, who rushed for 90 yards and threw for 315 but said he'll remember this game for those four interceptions. "Coaches can stress ball security all week, but the coaches are not out there in the moment. We've got to control it as players, in the moment."

There's a fair point in there, and Vick rightly took his share of the blame for this loss. But a head coach's job is to establish a team-wide culture in which the kind of sloppy play that's killing the Eagles is not tolerated. The players have to buy into the idea that the most important thing they can do is not beat themselves. They have to have it drilled into their heads, to the point where it becomes instinctive, "in the moment," to throw the ball away, to take a sack instead of throwing an interception. Jason Avant has to know, when he's in the defender's arms at the end of the 35-yard catch that gets the Eagles out of the shadow of their own goalposts, to go down, protecting the ball and not try to fight for extra yards with 20 minutes left in the game.

"Everyone took turns making mistakes," defensive end Jason Babin said.

And every player on the defense has to know, when the Bills are lining up looking as though they'll run a play on fourth-and-inches from midfield with 1:23 left on the clock, that the single most important thing they can do is not get caught offside. If the Bills run and pick up those inches on their own, at least they did something to beat you. But what you can't do in that spot is hand it to them, and that's something the coaches need to (A) make sure the team knows before the plane's wheels touch down on Saturday night and (B) expressly tell every single defensive player during the timeout just before that play.

"Every Saturday, we line up and practice it," Bills coach Chan Gailey said of that final play. "You don't think it's going to work, but the one time it does, it wins the game for you."

Asked if Fitzpatrick was planning to snap the ball, Gailey said, "I'll never tell." Everyone laughed.

There was no laughing in the visitor's locker room, where Parker said the receiver in motion made him think a play would be run and Reid and the rest of the players refused to lay blame at Parker's happy feet.

"I think guys are just trying so hard to make a play," Vick said. "We know what we're capable of, and guys all want to be the one who makes the play, want to be the game-changer. And I understand that. We're desperate for a win. So I can't fault guys for trying too hard."

No, but we can fault Reid and the Eagles' coaching staff for their failure to foster an environment in which their players prioritize smart decisions and sound fundamental football over the urgent desire to change the game. The game, by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, was going very much the Eagles' way. They were moving the ball at will on the Buffalo defense, Vick and DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy showcasing that game-changing speed that was supposed to propel the Eagles' offense to such great heights. Heck, their defense was even forcing the other team to punt for a change. All they had to do was avoid the game-changing mistakes, and they couldn't.

This Eagles team never does. No matter how good they look in stretches, they always find a way to screw it up. A holding penalty here, a face-mask penalty there, an offside penalty at the worst possible time. Well-coached teams just don't play that way.

If Reid really, truly, sincerely wants to take the responsibility for what's going on here, he's welcome to it. When you have this many players making this many inexcusable mistakes in this many critical situations, you have no choice but to seek the common thread. This season was to have been Reid's most glorious yet -- his best opportunity to win a Super Bowl. The front office gave him everything he needed and more to make it happen, and so far he has failed miserably.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- A few thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles' latest crushing loss, this one to the Buffalo Bills.

What it means: It's tough to see a way back from here for the Eagles. They showed in the second half that they have the talent to score and play with anyone, but they've just made too many mistakes, too many bad plays and missed too many tackles so far this year, and they're 1-4 with a tough division road game looming next week. They're going to have to be nearly perfect from here on out to have a chance to rebound and make the playoffs, and they're a long, long way from anything resembling perfect.

Same old Eagles run defense: We knew Buffalo running back Fred Jackson was likely to have a field day against the Eagles' 30th-ranked rushing defense, and he did, ripping off 58 first-half rushing yards and adding 22 more on his first run of the second half as the Bills built a 28-7 lead. Part of the reason the Eagles got back into the game was because the Bills went away from the run game in the fourth quarter for some reason in spite of how well it had worked. The Eagles made more tackles and more plays in the second level of their defense Sunday than they have been making, but it remains clear the middle of the defense is soft and can be run on almost at will.

Tale of two Vicks: Eagles quarterback Michael Vick was a mess in the first half, throwing three interceptions and badly mismanaging the clock in the final minute before halftime. But he came out of the locker room a new man, running the offense more confidently, efficiently and safely. He managed to find DeSean Jackson, a top weapon who's been missing too much this year, and LeSean McCoy on some underneath routes, and he took off himself on a 53-yard run that set up a score. Vick's play in the second half was the reason the Eagles got back in the game, but his play in the first was a huge part of the reason they were so far down in the first place.

No margin for error: The fourth interception wasn't Vick's fault, as Jason Avant had the ball in his hands and the Bills ripped it out. But the mistake as the Eagles were driving toward a potential game-tying touchdown just goes to show what the Eagles are right now -- a team that keeps putting itself in a position where it can't afford even one mistake. The offsides call on fourth-and-inches was another illustration of a team that doesn't have control of itself right now, and teams like that don't come back from 1-4 starts.

What's next: The Eagles travel to Washington on Sunday for a vital intradivision game against the Redskins. After a couple of games in a row against teams that don't bring an inordinate amount of pressure, Vick is likely to take a large number of hits from Brian Orakpo, Ryan Kerrigan and a Washington defense that was tied for the league lead in sacks entering this week's games. The Redskins are also coming off a bye and will be well-rested, which works against the Eagles after this grueling game.

As I wrote this morning, still no update on Jeremy Maclin's condition, nor any indication from the Philadelphia Eagles on when we'll have one. Eagles GM Howie Roseman spoke with ESPN's Sal Paolantonio and said this:

"We totally anticipate Jeremy being part of our football team. We anticipate him being back here shortly with us when we get back to NovaCare" after the preseason game in Pittsburgh.

Which is more or less what Roseman said Tuesday, which is more or less the Eagles just saying they have nothing to report.

In the meantime, Sheil Kapadia took up the question of just how important Maclin is to the Eagles. And with all due deference to DeSean Jackson (Sheil makes it clear he's not saying Maclin is more valuable than Jackson), he has Maclin down as the Eagles' best red zone receiving threat, most reliable receiver against the blitz and more reliable than Jackson (per Football Outsiders) at actually catching the ball.

Which means, if Maclin's illness is serious enough to cost him part of the season (as it seems more and more likely, as weeks go on and he doesn't practice, that it will be), the Eagles will suffer for it. All of the free-agent additions they made were intended to augment a roster that was already relying on electrifying offensive stars, and Maclin is unquestionably one of those.

Should they be forced to play without him for any significant period of time, the sky-high expectations that have grown out of the Eagles' free-agent spree will have to be toned down. As good as Jason Avant may be, and as much as a healthy Steve Smith could help, they simply don't have anyone on the roster who can replicate Maclin's value to their team.

Well, it was fun to watch some football, wasn't it? At least for the first halves of the games, when there were players in there you could imagine playing on Sundays this fall. Good for the NFL for solving that pesky labor dispute and getting the preseason started on time. Good for Jason Garrett for going for two and for the Eagles' defense for preventing that last touchdown, because overtime in the preseason is about as lame a concept as there is. And good for you for getting your breakfast links.

Dallas Cowboys

Jean-Jacques Taylor writes that the Dallas defense, in its first game under Rob Ryan, looked like a defense that was still feeling its way into its new scheme. I agree completely, and with Marcus Spears' assertion that they're "not playing anywhere like we'll be playing later in the year." And I think you saw glimpses of some encouraging things, such as pressure Spears and Anthony Hatcher were able to generate, and that first play where DeMarcus Ware got his hand on a Kyle Orton pass. Ryan's never had a player like Ware before, and it'll be fun to see how he uses him. But let's be honest here: The Cowboys don't have all year to learn this stuff. Sure, they need to look better and more sure of themselves later this season than they do now, but they need to look a lot better in 30 days than they do now, too. At least they have some tape they can take back and work with.

David Buehler says he feels like the kicker job is his to lose. We'll see if Dan Bailey gets his chances next week. This could turn out to be one of the least inspiring position battles in NFL history.

New York Giants

Unless everybody on his side is just pulling our legs (still possible, but feeling less likely), it appears as though Osi Umenyiora has reached the point where he's realized his holdout is no longer doing him any good. The sense is that he'll be back at practice Monday, after he got his knee checked out by a specialist Thursday and was apparently cleared. Good for Umenyiora if he was able to get any any extra money or incentives out of this, and good for the Giants for standing their ground when they didn't have to cave. He's an important player for them, and if he has a great year, he'll have more leverage next time around.

Lots of people had thoughts on Jerry Reese's odd news conference Thursday. These are Tara Sullivan's. Tara's point, a good one, is that Reese is perfectly within his rights to say you don't have to make a big free-agent splash to win, but that if you believe that you need to keep your own players. And in losing Steve Smith, Kevin Boss and Barry Cofield, Reese failed to do either thing: "The collateral damage has left coach Tom Coughlin with as thin a roster as he’s had in years, not a comfortable position for a man with two years left on his contract and a playoffs-or-bust mandate to get any more," Tara writes.

Philadelphia Eagles

As great as the Eagles looked in and felt after the preseason victory over Baltimore, there is growing concern about the health status of wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who's headed back to St. Louis (which is home for him, I guess) for further tests on the medical condition the Eagles won't discuss in detail. Andy Reid continues to insist he believes Maclin will be there for the Eagles when the season begins, but he doesn't seem to have much evidence for that belief. The most important thing is that the young man is OK, of course, not whether he plays football again. But from a strictly football standpoint, a Maclin absence would mean a lot more of Jason Avant, who looks very good.

The Eagles will go into this high-hopes season with rookies at kicker and punter. And while Alex Henery and Chas Henry are decorated collegiate kickers, the fact that they're rookies will keep the spotlight on them all year. They passed their first test, it would seem.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins defense you'll see in the early part of Friday night's game against the Steelers should be much improved over last year's, but defensive coordinator Jim Haslett told Mike Jones that he's looking forward to a time when it's fully healthy. LaRon Landry is on the PUP list while he continues to recover from his Achilles injury, and fellow safety O.J. Atogwe could miss the game with a hamstring pull. Safety was to have been a position of strength for the Redskins, and so you can see why Haslett would want his starters on the field with the rest of the more questionable guys.

Lots of eyes will be on the rookie receivers tonight, and Deron Snyder offers a look at Leonard Hankerson, who's looked good in camp except for those pesky drops, which I imagine could continue to be an issue that holds him back.

One final note: Yes, Buffalo is putting Lee Evans on the market. Yes, you can make the case that all four of these teams could use a receiver. But don't overrate Lee Evans here, folks. The Giants don't need to get Lee Evans just because they lost Steve Smith. Evans is nothing like Smith. He's the opposite of Smith, really -- a burner who can't get open and has never lived up to his considerable potential. (And no, it's not all because Buffalo hasn't had a quarterback. Steven Johnson managed to have a great year there last year because he can shake receivers and find the ball before defenders do.) If your team gets this guy, the best you can hope is that they didn't trade much to get him and that a change of scenery helps. But don't get too nuts about it.

Anyway, catch you later on. Redskins game tonight, so I'll be on the Twitter during that and filing my impressions when it's over.

I have here on my laptop screen three "unofficial depth charts" -- one each for the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins. They arrived as part of the media game notes in advance of preseason games, which begin the day after tomorrow. On Monday, I got the ones for the Cowboys and Eagles, who open preseason play Thursday. This morning I got the one for the Redskins, whose preseason opener is Friday. I am assuming that the Giants, who play Saturday, will send theirs tomorrow. (See what I did there? I incorporated simple addition and knowledge of the calendar. My sons' elementary school teachers would be so proud.)

Anyway, these don't, technically, mean anything. The teams call them "unofficial" just so we remember that. But they are fun, and here at the NFC East blog we're all about having fun. So let's take a look at a couple of things I noticed about each of the three I have so far that you, my dear readers, might find interesting. (And don't worry, Giants fans, you'll get your turn when I get your depth chart.)

Dallas Cowboys

Not a lot of surprises here. The Cowboys don't list their injured players as front-line starters, so Phil Costa is listed as the first-string center with Andre Gurode listed in brackets at the back of the depth chart as an injured player. They still have Montrae Holland listed as the starting right guard even though he's hurt, too, and David Arkin started there in Sunday's scrimmage. Arkin is listed as Kyle Kosier's backup at left guard, but we know that the alignment was changed Monday so that Arkin was starting with the first team at left guard and Kosier moved over to the right to start next to rookie tackle Tyron Smith.

Felix Jones is listed as the starting running back, though Tashard Choice and DeMarco Murray are listed in brackets because of injury and therefore pose no unofficial-depth-chart threat at the moment. Jones' backup on the depth chart is Lonyae Miller. Kevin Ogletree and Jesse Holley are the wide receivers listed immediately behind Dez Bryant and Miles Austin at those two positions, for what that's worth. Brings into focus the fact that they could use help at that No. 3 receiver spot.

On defense, they have Marcus Spears and Igor Olshansky starting at defensive end, and Sean Lee starting next to Bradie James at inside linebacker with Keith Brooking hurt. Orlando Scandrick is the starting cornerback opposite Mike Jenkins and in place of the injured Terence Newman, and Alan Ball is listed as Jenkins' backup. Free-agent signees Gerald Sensabaugh and Abram Elam are the starting safeties.

And David Buehler is still listed as the kicker ahead of Dan Bailey, but as I understand it that's not yet settled. Overall, it's tough to get a clear picture of the Cowboys' depth chart because of all the injuries.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles still list Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson, neither of whom has yet had a full practice, as their starting receivers. So the Dream Team rolls a bit differently, depth chart-wise, than does America's Team. Their backups are listed as Riley Cooper and Jason Avant, who are obviously more likely to play Thursday than are the listed starters. Ryan Harris is listed as the starting right tackle and Winston Justice isn't listed at all (presumably because he's on that PUP list). Jamaal Jackson is still listed as the starting center, though you need to keep an eye on Jason Kelce and how much he plays against the Ravens. They also list Vince Young as the No. 2 quarterback, ahead of Mike Kafka.

On defense, the Eagles' first-team line is listed as Trent Cole, Antonio Dixon, Mike Patterson and Juqua Parker. Obviously, Patterson's health concerns have taken him out of the mix for the time being, and Dixon has been limited due to injury. So you're more likely to see Cullen Jenkins and Anthony Hargrove at those defensive tackle spots, with Trevor Laws in the mix once he's healthy. Deep rotation on the line, where free-agent signing Jason Babin is a second-team defensive end along with Darryl Tapp. They're listing Casey Matthews as the starting middle linebacker in between Jamar Chaney and Moise Fokou, and Asante Samuel and Nnamdi Asomugha are the starting cornerbacks. Kurt Coleman is listed as the starting free safety opposite Nate Allen and in front of rookie Jaiquawn Jarrett.

Johnnie Lee Higgins is listed as the kick returner and as Jackson's backup punt returner.

Washington Redskins

Rex Grossman is listed as the starting quarterback, which is a change from the depth chart Mike Shanahan had on the wall of his office last week and could have something to do with John Beck's groin injury. It'll be interesting to see, if Beck is healthy, which one starts and how much they play. I think they'd like Beck to win the job but are prepared to go with Grossman if Beck falls on his face.

They're also listing Tim Hightower as the starting running back with Ryan Torain injured. But even if Torain were healthy, I believe they prefer Hightower assuming he can control his fumbling problem. Jabar Gaffney is listed as the starting wide receiver along with Santana Moss. Anthony Armstrong and Leonard Hankerson are listed as the backups. No surprises on the offensive line.

On defense, they have rookie Ryan Kerrigan starting at outside linebacker opposite Brian Orakpo and Rocky McIntosh starting inside along with London Fletcher. That puts Lorenzo Alexander in a bench/utility role from which he can help in multiple ways. Stephen Bowen and Adam Carriker are listed as the defensive ends on either side of nose tackle Barry Cofield. They have Josh Wilson starting at cornerback opposite DeAngelo Hall, and it'll be interesting to see if Wilson holds that job through and after Phillip Buchanon's four-game suspension. Reed Doughty starts at strong safety with LaRon Landry injured, and they're still listing Graham Gano as the kicker ahead of Shayne Graham, though it's possible that whoever shows up first when Shanahan yells "Graham!" will get to kick.

Have fun with it, folks. I'll take questions here and in the chat, at noon ET.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Call Andy Reid impatient if you want, but like most NFL coaches, the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach is no great fan of the walk-through practices that have taken the place of what used to be the second of his two training camp practices per day.

"It's like being stopped at a red light with a bunch of cars in front of you," Reid told me after Friday's walk-through. "You want to just hurry up and get where you're going, but there's nothing you can do about it."

The Eagles, you see, have big plans. Reid is in his 13th season as their coach, and although the first 12 have been mostly excellent, each has ended without a Super Bowl ring. The team's urge to change that this season is obvious and inescapable. It's on the ever-shifting roster, which added five Pro Bowlers during a wild first week of free agency that made the Eagles the talk of the league. It's in the eyes of quarterback Michael Vick, who knows last season proved he was good enough to deliver and therefore ratcheted up the pressure to do just that. It's all over the high-energy practices that have featured fights and trash-talking worthy of a Week 16 division matchup. The Eagles know what's at stake and what they must do, and they're eager to get to it.

"This town wants a Super Bowl," linebacker Jamar Chaney told me, referring of course to Philadelphia, not Bethlehem. "The Phillies win. The Flyers win. They want the Eagles to do the same thing. And not just win, like, have a good season. They want you to win a Super Bowl."

The players and coaches hear the fans and would like them to know they feel the same way. Juan Castillo, who's in his first season as defensive coordinator after 13 as the team's offensive line coach, has a cut just above his nose from where he actually head-butted linebacker Keenan Clayton while yelling at Clayton to make a point during practice last week. Yeah, Clayton was still wearing his helmet. Yeah, Castillo wants this pretty badly.

"Coach Reid has been to the playoffs nine out of 12 years," Castillo said. "That's tradition, but it's not good enough. Before we finish here, we want to win the Super Bowl. Because we don't want to be sitting around when we get older, watching ESPN and having them talk about how we were so close and we never got it done."

So yeah. If it's not too much trouble, the Eagles would like to get this thing going as soon as possible.

THREE HOT ISSUES

1. Can you have too many cornerbacks? When the Eagles signed Nnamdi Asomugha the day after acquiring Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and they already had Asante Samuel, the first question everybody asked was whether they'd keep all three excellent cornerbacks. The answer, to this point, seems to be yes. Rodgers-Cromartie has made it clear he doesn't mind sitting behind either of the other two, and Asomugha has made it clear that he's happy to play slot corner when all three are on the field if the other two would prefer to play outside. So although there was some early talk about possibly dealing Samuel (and that remains a possibility if somebody blows them away with a great offer), the odds favor the Eagles' keeping all three and just making triple-sure that all the receivers they play against are covered.

2. Will Vick have his receivers? As exciting as things have been during the early practices, you can't escape that Vick is throwing to second-string and third-string receivers. Sure, Jason Avant has looked like a star. But he's supposed to be the No. 3 wideout behind DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. Jackson just showed up Monday after missing the first week-plus in a contract dispute. Maclin has been in camp for a week but has yet to practice as he continues to recover from an illness that neither he nor the team will discuss. If the team can't get Jackson happy and Maclin healthy soon, their top two receivers run the risk of starting the season behind or maybe not on the roster. No matter how many new defensive players they've signed, that would be impossible to overcome.

3. Who are the linebackers? The Eagles have beefed up on the defensive line and in the secondary. They've even added a couple of starters on the offensive line and Pro Bowl backups at quarterback and running back. But they did nothing at linebacker except allow Stewart Bradley to leave via free agency. That means rookie Casey Matthews, the team's fourth-round pick in April's draft, is currently the starting middle linebacker with Chaney and Moise Fokou on the outside. The coaches have been saying very nice things about Matthews, but no pre-draft projection I know of had him as a 2011 starter -- especially on a team that expects to win the Super Bowl. Don't be surprised if the Eagles bring in a veteran to add a little depth and/or experience at the position. Matthews could start Week 1, but it's hard to imagine that the Eagles don't have a backup plan.

D-LINING THEM UP

For all the talk about the rotation at cornerback, the Eagles have put together remarkable depth on the defensive line as well. New defensive line coach Jim Washburn has been using Trent Cole and Juqua Parker as his starting defensive ends in early practices, with newcomers Cullen Jenkins and Anthony Hargrove at the defensive tackle spots. But one would have to think that Antonio Dixon, who has been missing practice with a knee injury, would start in Hargrove's place if healthy, which means Hargrove would join newly signed defensive end Jason Babin on the second-team defensive line. Add in Trevor Laws, Darryl Tapp and, if healthy, Mike Patterson, and Washburn has plenty of options on a line that will have a different mission this year than it has in recent seasons. "We used to do a lot of reading, and now we're attacking, getting after the ball a lot," Cole told me. "Go to the ball every time, get the quarterback every time. I think they took a lot of the thinking out of it. Just go play ball."

O-LINING THEM UP

The offensive line also has a new coach in Howard Mudd, and he has changed the way they play line on that side of the ball, too. "It's a whole new thought of blocking your man," guard Todd Herremans told me. "Instead of meeting him at a spot, you're going to get to them before they get to that spot. It's more of an aggressive approach." Herremans said he's working on changing his ways, and left tackle Jason Peters and center Jamaal Jackson must as well. Rookie right guard Danny Watkins and right tackle Ryan Harris are new, and rookie Jason Kelce could wrest the starting center spot from Jackson. So there's a lot going on with the offensive line, and it bears watching, because keeping Vick healthy is probably the key to the entire Eagles season.

OBSERVATION DECK

• Assuming Nate Allen's knee is healthy, he'll start at one safety spot, but it'll be interesting to see how the other one shakes out. It looks as though the Eagles would like to give rookie Jaiquawn Jarrett a chance to start, but it's tough to evaluate Jarrett during practices that don't allow hard hitting, because that's his thing. Also in the mix are Kurt Coleman, Marlin Jackson and newly signed veteran Jarrad Page.
• As many weapons as the Eagles already have on offense, and as good as Brent Celek is, it'd be easy to overlook the signing of tight end Donald Lee. But when I was there, they were lining Lee up one-on-one with defensive ends like Babin and having him block them without help. He did a pretty good job, and if you're wondering how he might be deployed, that could be your answer.
• Vince Young looks very much like a quarterback with a lot to learn about his new team's offense. So much so, in fact, that you wonder whether Young or Mike Kafka would be the starter if Vick were to suffer an injury early in the season.
• Fourth-round draft pick Alex Henery has a great big leg. But after all the work they did in free agency and everything that's riding on this season, it does seem a little odd for the Eagles to potentially leave the outcome of a big game in the hands (or on the foot) of a rookie place-kicker.
• Chaney played middle linebacker last season when Bradley was hurt. And when you ask which he'd prefer, he answers that he'd rather be back there than outside. But the Eagles think that his speed is his greatest asset and that having him on the strong side makes the best use of that. He could be the middle linebacker of the future or a fall-back option if Matthews can't handle it. But right now they appear to prefer him on the outside.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Big Saturday morning crowd here at Lehigh, and they were treated to quite a show as the Philadelphia Eagles offered one of the more spirited training camp practices I've seen.

One of the highlights came late in the practice when defensive end Darryl Tapp jumped, deflected a Mike Kafka pass into the air, caught it and ran it back about 70 yards for a touchdown. The play was good enough on its own to be a highlight, but what really made it memorable was the sight of a red-shirted Michael Vick racing off the sideline and chasing Tapp to the end zone.

"I saw him out of the corner of my eye and thought, 'I'd better run'," Tapp said. "He's ... a little bit faster than I am."

It was that kind of high-energy day for the Eagles. The sun hid behind clouds and kept the heat at bay, so the practice ran long and no one seemed to tire out. There were three fights (all quickly broken up, one by hyperenthusiastic defensive coordinator Juan Castillo), several circus catches, plenty of patented Asante Samuel trash-talking and an especially bouncy performance by newly signed defensive tackle Anthony Hargrove, who practiced as if he'd had four extra cups of coffee before taking the field.

"I don't know what happened out there today," Vick said. "Just something in the air, I think. Just one of those days where, on both sides of the ball, we were like, 'We're going to win every down,' and guys played that way."

A couple of thoughts:

• Vick was goofing off when he ran after Tapp, obviously, but when he was at quarterback he looked absolutely stellar, threading throws into tight spots, picking up blitzes and staying confidently in the pocket and behind the line of scrimmage rather than taking off for runs. Considering the receivers to whom he's throwing (i.e., not DeSean Jackson or Jeremy Maclin) and who's covering them (i.e. Samuel, Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie), Vick's practice performance Saturday was extremely impressive.
• Asomugha missed the latter part of practice with a calf injury that both he and the team said wasn't serious. Other injury absences included Nate Allen, who missed the practice with a knee injury, Trevor Laws, who has a hip injury, and Marlin Jackson, whose groin is hurt.
• There were a couple of offensive sets on which the tight end was assigned to block a defensive end one-on-one. Donald Lee held his own against Jason Babin when called upon to do that. Brent Celek did not fare as well in his attempts to handle Babin, who is another of the high-energy fellows.
• Howard Mudd seems still to be tinkering with the starting lineup on the offensive line. Ryan Harris played right tackle with the first team Saturday, while rookie Jason Kelce more or less split first-team reps with Jamaal Jackson at center. No reason yet to think Kelce is a threat to Jackson's job, but it bears watching. Rookie Danny Watkins is taking reps with the first and second teams at right guard because he's sure to be the starter there and they want to get him up to speed after a spring and summer that featured no OTAs or minicamps.
• Vince Young is learning, and it appears he has a ways to go before he knows the offense. But Marty Mornhinweg coached Vick to excellence from a backup role, and the Eagles and Young feel it's worth the shot to see if the same can happen for him.
• Jason Avant, whose one-handed touchdown catch with Asomugha draped all over him was one of the practice's highlights, said he's not worried about the time that Jackson (holdout) and Maclin (undisclosed illness) are missing. "Those guys know the playbook like the back of their hand," Avant said. "As soon as they're back, they'll jump right in without any problem."

I'll have more on the Eagles in the coming days, as my notebook and recorder are loaded. Much of it will appear in the Eagles edition of "Camp Confidental," which is currently scheduled for Monday. It looks as though my next stop will be Giants camp either Sunday or Monday. I'll keep you posted.