Eagles moving forward into the post-McNabb era

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Eagles have ended their final pre-training camp workout with Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel at a funeral, Pro Bowl wide receiver DeSean Jackson attending to personal business, and Donovan McNabb in Washington.

Samuel and Jackson are expected to be present when the team opens training camp July 29 at Lehigh University. McNabb will not.

The Eagles are moving on with Kevin Kolb as the new team leader and one of the youngest offenses in the league.

"I think Donovan explained it best," Eagles head coach Andy Reid said Thursday. "He's moving on and we're in the same situation with Kevin. Donovan is focused on making the Washington Redskins a better team. You scratch out what you've done in the past. He's not looking back. We can't, either.

"Kevin is doing the same. He had a tremendous teacher in Donovan. Now, Donovan is gone so it's time for him to put his stamp on this thing. He can't compare himself to Donovan. He's has to be Kevin and just go play. You have to have blinders on and cotton in your ears. I think he has a pretty good feel for that sort of thing."

McNabb has been Reid's starting quarterback to open the season for the past 11 years, after taking over for veteran Doug Pederson, now the team's quarterbacks coach, late in both of their rookie season of 1999.

Reid said Thursday that Kolb, who will enter his fourth season, is more ready in some ways than the young McNabb was back in the turn of the century.

"At the time Donovan was coming out school, the college blitz package and the looks he had seen weren't as sophisticated as what you saw in the NFL," Reid said. "Now that has transitioned over to the college level where people are blitzing like crazy. Over the past four, five years, guys have had decent exposure to the blitz.

"With Kevin, I don't feel that's the case, that's one thing. I think he was a little bit ahead of Donovan was just as far as seeing more blitzes. And then two, he hasn't been forced in there. Donovan was kind of a rush-rush to get him in there. Kevin has been able to sit back and learn. There's been no rush."

Kolb has played in 12 games through his first three years in the league, starting two. In his rookie season of 2007, he appeared just once in a mop-up role. In his second season, he played in six games, the most notable a loss to Baltimore, in which he started the second half for a benched McNabb.

Last year, he played in five games and got two starts, a win over Kansas City and a loss to New Orleans. He became the first quarterback to throw for over 300 yards in those first two starts.

For the past month, or so, he's been attending the team's minicamps and optional workouts. He said this week that he will stay in Philadelphia the rest of the offseason and continue to work out with his teammates.

"I think he showed a good command of the huddle and the players respect him," Reid said of Kolb. "I think he has a pretty good grasp of what we're doing."

Notes: The Eagles announced they signed fourth-round draft pick linebacker Keenan Clayton to a four-year contract. They also placed safety Marlin Jackson on injured reserve with a torn Achilles. They released quarterback Joey Elliott, a rookie from Purdue, running back Keithon Flemming, a rookie from West Texas A&M, fullback Chris Zardas, a rookie from Massachusetts and wide receiver Pat Simonds, a rookie from Colgate. Reid will join fellow head coaches Brad Childress, of Minnesota, Marvin Lewis, of Cincinnati and John Fox, of Carolina on a USO Tour of the Middle East to visit American soldiers stationed there.