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The leg injury to star receiver Hakeem Nicks has once again sent the New York Giants scrambling for reinforcements. Last week they brought back veteran Derek Hagan, who has a good grasp of the offense. Now it looks like Hagan will be starting opposite Mario Manningham on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

There's also a good chance the Giants will sign another wide receiver today. Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger has provided a list of candidates, and you'll notice former Eagle Kevin Curtis at the top of the free-agent portion. Former Tampa Bay receiver Michael Clayton, who just finished up his UFL season, is also on the list. Garafolo mentions that the Giants would have to pay a $150,000 "transfer fee" for the rights to Clayton, but a team source told me Tuesday morning that's not the case.

The UFL championship game will take place later this week, but Clayton's Omaha Nighthawks will not be involved. If the Giants want to sign Clayton to a free-agent contract, they believe they'll be doing it free and clear of any UFL obligations. We'll keep you posted throughout the day.

Hopefully Monday's news that Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Reggie Brown had been traded to Tampa Bay for an undisclosed draft pick in 2011 did not catch anyone by surprise. Brown, a second-round pick by the Eagles in '05, had become a marginal player on the roster and it's a coup that general manager Howie Roseman worked out any compensation.

The "undisclosed" pick is reportedly a sixth-rounder in '11. It's hard to believe that Brown's career once carried so much promise. He led the Eagles in catches and touchdowns in '06 and showed signs of being a potential No. 1 receiver. But by the start of the '08 season, Brown couldn't even get on the field because of hamstring injuries -- and the presence of rookie DeSean Jackson. I think Brown's capable of a 50-catch season for the Bucs, but that's probably the ceiling. He's injury prone and he has questionable hands.

The Eagles are now left with a pretty thin receiving corps. Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant may be one of the most talented groups in the league, but Andy Reid and Roseman need to add depth at the position. It's hard to imagine Philadelphia paying 31-year-old Kevin Curtis his $3.4 million base salary in 2010. It's more likely the Eagles will sign a veteran free agent (Hank Baskett, anyone?) and then add a receiver via the draft.

For Brown, this is an opportunity for a fresh start with a second-year quarterback in Tampa Bay. After being buried on the Eagles' roster the past two seasons, I'm sure he's thrilled to be leaving.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- As we've already told you, Michael Vick is active for tonight's game and I would expect for him to play a fairly significant role in the game plan. The Cowboys spent more time in the film room preparing for Vick this week because they felt like the Eagles would be in more of a desperation mode in this game. Now let's take a look at the inactives for both teams:

Cowboys: QB Stephen McGee, S Pat Watkins, CB Cletis Gordon, LB Jason Williams, G Montrae Holland, C/G Duke Preston, T Pat McQuistan, LB Curtis Johnson

Eagles: QB Kevin Kolb, CB Geoffrey Pope, FS Quintin Demps, T King Dunlap, C Dallas Reynolds, WR Kevin Curtis, TE Martin Rucker, DT Trevor Laws

PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (quad) will serve as the emergency quarterback today against the Broncos. Kevin Kolb will replace Vick as the backup to Donovan McNabb.

The rest of the Eagles' inactives: CB Geoffrey Pope, S Quintin Demps, G/T Stacy Andrews, G Mike McGlynn, WR Kevin Curtis, TE Martin Rucker, DE Trevor Laws

Broncos inactives: Emergency QB Tom Brandstater, WR Eddie Royal, CB Ty Law, RB LaMont Jordan, S Vernon Fox, ILB/FB Spencer Larsen, G Seth Olsen, DL Chris Baker

Former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins will be introduced last for the Broncos. I'm sure there will be a huge roar from the crowd, but the Eagles haven't planned any formal ceremony to honor their former star.

Eagles running back Brian Westbrook (concussion) is a long shot to play against the 49ers on Sunday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Coach Andy Reid said he hasn't made a decision, but the fact that Westbrook's still working with the scout team is a pretty good indication that the running back will sit out at least one more game.

Reid also held tight end Brent Celek out of practice again with a sore back, but he said that Celek would play Sunday. Rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (foot) is making steady progress but he's unlikely to be ready for the 49ers. There's an outside shot that veteran Kevin Curtis could return to the field Sunday but he was limited in practice Wednesday. The more likely scenario is that Reggie Brown will continue to see more reps and Jason Avant will become the starter.

In other news, defensive end Trent Cole confirmed that he was fined by the league for throwing two punches while trying to defend a teammate late in Sunday's win over the Giants.

"I embarrassed myself and my team," Cole told reporters Wednesday. "It was just a situation I didn't want to be in ... but it happened and you have to deal with it, take the consequences and move forward to the next week."

Cole took the preemptive step of sending a letter of apology to the league. I don't think it had any effect on the amount of the fine, but I'm sure it made an impression with the league office. It was very uncharacteristic of Cole and I don't think you'll see him get involved in something like that again.

By the way, here's hoping that Cole gets some major consideration for the Pro Bowl. I think people who follow the NFC East recognize how valuable he is, but he's never received a lot of recognition around the league. I honestly think Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown should both receive consideration for the Pro Bowl. On offense, Donovan McNabb, DeSean Jackson and Celek should receive a lot of votes. Who's the best quarterback in the NFC East right now?

I think you'd have to go with McNabb. And I think Jason Witten is still the best tight end in the division, but Celek has put up impressive numbers and probably deserves to go ahead of Witten this season. He'll have a tough time overcoming Tony Gonzalez, though. The last time I looked, Gonzalez led all tight ends in the NFC with 352,000 votes. Those totals were through November.

Update: The Star-Ledger's reporting that Cole was fined $15,000 by the league.

Eagles rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin needed walkers to make it out of the locker room last night. It's the product of an injury to his plantar fascia and here's how coach Andy Reid described it earlier this afternoon:

"From what I understand, without being a doctor, is that you have two strands that make up plantar fasciitis," said Reid. "He tore one of those strands. The other strand is a non-weight bearing strand so he should be OK, probably not this week, possibly next week."

Reid said he wouldn't immediately make a roster move at wide receiver because he wants to see how much progress Kevin Curtis makes this week. Reid also revealed that tight end Brent Celek has a sore back that he ended up playing through in Sunday night's game.

A team source told me earlier today that Celek's back tightened up on him in the hours leading up to kickoff. He wasn't moving around very well but some pain medication calmed things down. Celek went out and had five catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. It was his seventh touchdown of the season.

Defensive end Trent Cole is day to day with a hamstring sprain, fullback Leonard Weaver has a slight hamstring sprain and running back Brian Westbrook did not have any setbacks over the weekend. Reid was non-committal as to whether Westbrook would continue to work with the scout team this week. He said he would wait until Wednesday to make that decision.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For the first time this season, Giants coach Tom Coughlin has decided to sit down his former starting defensive tackle Rocky Bernard. The Giants signed Bernard to a lucrative free-agent contract last March but he hasn't performed up to expectations.

The Giants will also have rookie wide receiver Hakeem Nicks starting ahead of Mario Manningham. That's a move that could've happened several weeks ago. Nicks is becoming a big-play receiver and he's more consistent than Manningham at this point in their careers. Aaron Ross will start this game at strong safety instead of C.C. Brown. That was another move that Coughlin hinted at this week in practice.

The rest of the Giants' inactives: WR Ramses Barden, DB D.J. Johnson, RB Gartrell Johnson, T Adam Koets, T Guy Whimper, WR Sinorice Moss, TE Bear Pascoe.

The Eagles' inactives: Emergency QB Kevin Kolb, CB Geoffrey Pope, RB P.J. Hill, RB Brian Westbrook, G/T Stacy Andrews, G Mike McGlynn, WR Kevin Curtis, DT Trevor Laws.

I just received my official Eagles injury report and running back Brian Westbrook (concussion) has been ruled out for Sunday's game in the Meadowlands. Westbrook has been working with the scout team in practice but he wasn't quite ready to go.

Rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (left foot) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game. He didn't practice until Friday, but coaches remain optimistic that he'll be ready in time for the Eagles game. Reid said earlier today that "Maclin should be fine" for Sunday's game.

Veteran wide receiver Kevin Curtis, who has been taking reps with the scout team, was also listed as questionable. I'd be very surprised if he played Sunday.

The Eagles listed 11 players as probable for the game, including wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who is coming back from a concussion.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles running back Brian Westbrook (concussion) is officially inactive for tonight's game against the Cowboys. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Westbrook would not play earlier today.

Here are the rest of the Eagles inactives: CB Dimitri Patterson, RB P.J. Hill, RB Brian Westbrook, LB Chris Gocong, G Max Jean-Gilles, G Mike McGlynn, WR Kevin Curtis, DE Victor Abiamiri.

Cowboys inactives: Stephen McGee -- emergency QB, CB Allen Rossum, S Michael Hamlin, LB Steve Octavien, LB Jason Williams, G Montrae Holland, C Duke Preston, T Pat McQuistan

One thing to note is that the Eagles are keeping all three quarterbacks active for tonight's game. For the past couple weeks, Kevin Kolb had been serving as the emergency quarterback. Might be a sign that the Eagles intend on using the Wildcat formation with Michael Vick more than usual. I'll keep you posted.

Update: Here’s a statement from Eagles athletic trainer Rick Burkholder regarding Westbrook’s injury: “On Friday afternoon, Brian began experiencing symptoms of a mild headache. From that point forward, we had Brian reevaluated by [team internist] Dr. Gary Dorshimer and we put him through extensive testing. Even though those tests were determined to be negative, we all thought it would be in the best interests of Brian and the team that he should be deactivated for tonight’s game. We will continue to evaluate Brian this week.”

On Friday, coach Andy Reid indicated that he simply wanted to get running back LeSean McCoy some extra reps. It’s not often we receive a statement from an athletic trainer only minutes before a game.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

LANDOVER, Md. -- Greetings from the biggest NFC East game of the evening. I've just been handed tonight's incactives, so let me pass them along:

Redskins: Kevin Barnes, Quinton Ganther, Robert Henson, Chris Samuels, Chad Rinehart, Marko Mitchell, Anthony Montgomery, Renaldo Wynn

Eagles: Kevin Kolb (third quarterback), Dimitri Patterson, Joe Mays, Mike McGlynn, Max Jean-Gilles, Kevin Curtis, Victor Abiamiri, Omar Gaither

Eagles coach Andy Reid obviously has a lot of faith that left guard Todd Herremans is fully recovered. I'll be interested to see if Stacy Andrews gets any reps at right guard. Something tells me that we won't see tonight.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

The Eagles have ruled out starting left guard Todd Herremans for Sunday's game against the Raiders, but he was able to participate in some non-contact drills with the team Wednesday. It looks like Herremans is aiming to return for the "Monday Night Football" game against the Redskins on Oct. 26.

In other news, cornerback Sheldon Brown was limited today because of an abdomen injury. According to the Eagles, tight end Brent Celek (knee), wide receiver Kevin Curtis (knee), cornerback Ellis Hobbs (wrist), quarterback Donovan McNabb (ribs, left shoulder) and cornerback Asante Samuel (calf) all made it through a full practice Wednesday.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb (rib) didn't practice Friday and is officially listed as doubtful for Sunday's game against the Chiefs. The good news for Eagles fans is that wide receiver DeSean Jackson returned to practice after missing two days with a groin injury.

Starting wide receiver Kevin Curtis (knee) is also listed as doubtful. If Curtis can't go, Reid said he'd be replaced by rookie Jeremy Maclin. Running back Brian Westbrook (ankle) missed practice again but he's listed as questionable. He's missed every day of practice before and still been effective on Sunday, so the Eagles are still optimistic about him.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

Bob Brookover, Eagles beat writer for the Inquirer, took a stab at nailing the final 53-man roster for the club. Brookover's been known to hit this thing out of the park, so keep his list handy for Saturday afternoon. And speaking of Saturday, we'll be providing full cut-down day coverage on the Beast and several of our affiliate blogs.

I'd take Eldra Buckley over Kyle Eckel at the running back/fullback spot, but Brookover disagrees with me. If Reggie Brown's not traded, Brookover thinks the Eagles will come up with a fake injury and put Brandon Gibson on the IR. I don't see that happening. Gibson could actually make a contribution this season. And with Kevin Curtis' history of injuries, I'd keep Gibson around.

Brooky has Bryan Smith getting cut. I don't think the Eagles are going to do that. Jason Babin's had his moments this preseason, but I'm not convinced he'll be on that final roster. So does Jack Ikegwuonu make the team? That will be interesting to watch. The guy was a fourth-round pick and the Eagles would like to see where he's headed. We'll have to say goodbye to Dimitri Patterson if that happens -- and that's too bad.

What can the Eagles get for A.J. Feeley? Well, we're about to find out.

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

In addition to offering his thoughts on the WildVick formation Monday, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb endorsed rookie wide receiver Jeremy Maclin as a potential starter. Asked whether Maclin was ready to start, here's what the quarterback had to say:

"I think he can," McNabb said of Maclin. "In the preseason games, you’re not going to feature different guys. You want to spread the ball around, get everybody an opportunity. We’ve seen a lot from our receivers. We’ve seen Maclin catch balls and break tackles and get up field and pick up yards. We’ve seen DeSean (Jackson) do it. We’ve seen Brandon Gibson do it. We’ve seen Hank Baskett, Jason Avant, all of our guys. And I think that when you throw guys into a certain situation in this offense, you're not asking them to be the guy. We spread the ball around so much that everybody gets involved. And I think if Maclin was asked to do that, I think that he would be able to do that. You got to remember that Kevin Curtis is coming back and he’s doing well. Reggie Brown is still going to be able to help us and the rest of the guys as well so it’s just important that we continue to stay consistent with what we’re doing."

I have a hard time seeing Reggie Brown making this team. Gibson, the sixth-round pick, has been too impressive -- and he comes at a cheaper rate. The Eagles will have to take a salary cap hit on Brown, but that shouldn't be a big problem.

In other news, I wanted to give you the full context of McNabb's quote from earlier today when he seemed to be somewhat critical of Andy Reid for interrupting the flow of last Thursday's preseason game by "forcing" some Wildcat formation plays in the first half.

"The game of football it’s about, I always believe that before you can come up with gimmicks or come up with something else, you’ve got to get your base offense going. I think in game three of the preseason, that’s something that teams take very important because that’s really the last time that the ones get an opportunity to kick off the rust and ready for the regular season. There a lot of instances that it seemed like we were forcing a lot of different things just to say that we ran it, instead of just running our offense and running how things may go as far as during the year or if we decide to do it. I thought our offense continued to get things going as the game continued on and we got that rhythm that we wanted.”

To me, that's sort of McNabb's passive aggressive way of saying the Eagles overdid it with Vick on Thursday. Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Quite an eventful day here in Lehigh Valley, where even on a Monday morning, thousands of Eagles fans poured into training camp. It has to be one of the most serene places in the league, what with the lush, green meadows and trees dotting the mountainside. Almost made myself cry during that last sentence.

Why don't we get away from my postcard from Bethlehem and actually talk some football. The morning session was dominated by the defense, and there's a rookie linebacker named Moise Fokou who Eagles fans are going to be rooting for. The seventh-round pick out of Maryland is always flying around the ball and he'll be tough to keep off the final roster. For more on Fokou and other players you'll actually recognize, continue reading:

• When I brought up the fact that rookie Jeremy Maclin had muffed one punt and mishandled another at the end of the morning session, he glared at me before saying, "It won't be an issue." In my book, a first-round rookie putting the ball on the ground is a worthy topic -- but that's just me. In my five-minute visit with Maclin, it's obvious that he has a ton of confidence. When I asked him if he'd be OK with the coaches not starting him at first, he quickly replied, "I didn't come here to sit on the bench." I didn't really see Maclin do a lot in the morning session, but a sixth-round pick named Brandon Gibson out of Washington State kept making play after play.

• Rookie free-agent tight end Eugene Bright is sort of an interesting story. He was a defensive end at Purdue, but the Eagles signed him in April to play tight end. He said he played two games at tight end in high school in Pennsylvania, but never thought he'd end up there in the pros. But with the season-ending injury to Cornelius Ingram and Matt Schobel missing time with an injury, Bright is getting a long look. He dropped a couple passes early in camp, so he started carrying a football with him at all times. He says he catches an extra 200 passes a day that way, and that the quarterbacks constantly want to throw to him away from the practice fields. Bright got the idea from one of America's true film classics, "The Program," in which the immortal Omar Epps fumbled so much that coaches made him carry a ball around campus. Playing the role of Darnell Jefferson, Epps held onto the ball in games and eventually attracted the attention of Halle Berry. "I rented the movie when I was at Purdue, and it's obviously stuck with me," Bright said.

• To be fair, I saw Quintin Demps muff a punt, too. But on defense, Demps looked really comfortable opposite Quintin Mikell and made a nice interception on an ill-advised throw from Donovan McNabb. I think Demps will win the starting job, but the Eagles were wise to sign a quality backup like Sean Jones from the Browns.

• Second-year linebacker Joe Mays appears to be making the most of his opportunity now that middle linebacker Stewart Bradley's out for the season. Mays was very active in blitz packages and he showed some really good range in dropping back into coverage. Also the type of kid who's really easy to root for. Not very tall at 5-11, but he's stacked. Sort of built like Skins linebacker London Fletcher.
  

• I think Brent Celek will be the latest entry in what has to be the best tight end division in football. Martellus Bennett is playing to rave reviews in San Antonio and Jason Witten's the best tight end in football right now. The Redskins' Chris Cooley and the Giants' Kevin Boss are both very productive, although Cooley's obviously the bigger weapon. Celek's a very unassuming guy, but you can tell he's highly intelligent. He's been studying tape of Witten and Cooley to see what makes them so successful. He said the way Witten "sets people up at the top of his routes" is what sets him apart.

• It didn't take long to identify the best player in this camp right now. His name is DeSean Jackson and no one can defend him at this point. He's making All-Pro cornerback Asante Samuel look silly in practice -- on a routine basis. Jackson looks bigger than last season, and I don't think he's lost any speed. Seriously. No one in camp can cover him.
  

• Former Cowboys practice squad wide receiver Danny Amendola had an excellent morning practice. He runs smooth routes and he made a couple tough catches on low throws.
  

• Donovan McNabb is still having fun after all these years. On one play, he took off running down the sideline. But just as a defender assumed he would step out of bounds, McNabb tip-toed down the sideline. The fans went nuts, and McNabb had a good laugh as he jogged back to the huddle.

• Defensive end Chris Clemons, the former Raider, broke through for at least one sack in the practice and his quickness in drills was pretty impressive. Still looks too skinny to me, but he had a good practice.

• Former Charges linebacker Matt Wilhelm stuffed the run a couple times and he looks like he could definitely contribute. At the rate they're going, the Eagles are going to need a lot of depth at linebacker. And based on Monday's practice, they might be in better shape than a lot of people think.
  

• Asante Samuel rarely speaks to the media, but he's the most vocal defender on the field. When cornerback Sheldon Brown made a really nice play on the ball, Samuel came racing in from the sideline shouting at the top of his lungs.
  

• There's been a Winston Justice sighting early in camp. I think most fans and reporters just assu
  med he'd never be heard from again after his nightmare experience against the Giants a couple years ago, but he's shown up with a different mindset in this camp. I don't want to go too far, but it's safe to say that Winston Justice is actually displaying some confidence in this camp. If Shawn Andrews can't go, the Eagles may need Justice.
  

• When Maclin sort of threw Sheldon Brown to the ground after a pass breakup, someone from the stands shouted, "Maclin, that's our Pro Bowler! Take it easy!"
  

• Kevin Kolb was throwing the ball pretty well this morning before he sprained his MCL. He'll miss Thursday's preseason game, but the Eagles are saying he'll be day to day after that.

• Rookie cornerback Macho Harris out of Virginia Tech made some nice plays on the ball in one-on-one drills with the receivers. All in all, the defense really dominated the offense. McNabb admitted as much and vowed to change that in the near future. Speaking of McNabb, it's ridiculous how many weapons he has at receiver right now. Watching Jackson, Maclin, Avant and Kevin Curtis go about their business convinces me that this is the best receiving corps in the NFC East.
  

• I like Eldra Buckley at running back. I don't know if he has a chance to make the team, but he's willing to dole out some punishment when he sticks his nose in the hole. He spent last season on the Chargers' practice squad. Another good underdog story.
  

• Jason Peters looked fine to me during team drills. Very athletic and he can engulf a defensive end. Watched him do it twice Monday morning. And Stacy Andrews may be the tallest right guard I've seen. At 6-7, he cast a pretty long shadow. And on the left side, reserve offensive tackle King Dunlap is the same way. He's one of those guys who could be pretty effective if the light ever comes on. If memory serves correct, he just didn't want to work that hard at Auburn. I'll ask around and see if he's changed that at all. Pretty impressive looking guy. The Eagles have six offensive linemen on the roster 6-5 or taller.