Banner: Eagles are ready, set to go

We're busy again. Thank goodness!

What does "busy" look like at the NovaCare Complex during a blizzard of a week when we settled our labor agreement, opened training camp, signed a dozen players and discussed a dozen trades? Maybe throw in a surprise signing on top? (Sometimes preparation pays off.)

Well, it's about 10 p.m. the night before the coaches and team move up to camp at Lehigh University. There are more than 600 NFL-caliber players in flux right now. We have to figure out the best 90 to sign for training camp - and get to the ones we want in a race with 31 other teams.

Our plan of attack has been refined constantly over the lockout, time and again, on how to improve our team during the offseason. And part of the plan is: Move fast, be decisive, and adapt on the fly. It's like any good game plan: Call the play, make the adjustments based on what you're seeing from the opposition - and go, go, go.

For months going back before the NFL draft in May, there have been long hours of discussions about this day. We've met in coach Andy Reid's office, filled with binders of practice plans, some of them still warm from the copier. In general manager Howie Roseman's office, where he keeps an exercise bike next to his desk so he can always reach his phone. In owner and CEO Jeffrey Lurie's office, putting the pieces together to do everything possible to get that Lombardi Trophy.

All those months, all those meetings, have just been the warm-up for today. Time for action: What could we get for Kevin Kolb? (A deal we like a lot, as it turns out.) Should we bring back Jason Babin? (Yes.) If Kolb goes, can we bring in another quality quarterback? (Another yes.)

Today sees the whole building in motion. Back and forth. Room to room, phone call to phone call.

Now, at 10, everyone is in a different place. The remains of a turkey hoagie and fries are on waxed paper on my desk. I realize that I forgot to shave today - didn't even have time to shave.

Aileen Daly, our team lawyer, is hovering over the fax machine, waiting for details of a rookie contract to buzz through. Talk about dedicated - she went home halfway through the U2 concert just to be rested and ready for this week. And Derron Harris, our salary-cap expert, had breakfast this morning - noteworthy only because it's the first meal he's had time to eat in two days.

It's not just us. Counting the players, about 300 people work for the Eagles, and everyone has found another gear. A convoy of trucks with footballs, computers, video players, even desks and chairs, is rolling down the highway to Lehigh. HR is extending offers to a dozen interns to help us at camp. Assistants are booking flights for players and scheduling phone calls across time zones. And the cooks in the cafeteria are adding a lot of food to their upcoming supply orders - we've got folks coming to the building who like to eat.

You hear a lot of activity. There's plenty of people still working at 10 p.m.

You hear no complaints.

That's because we are all so happy football is back, and back full-speed. And we know our fans are happy, too.

We know that because we compared notes over the summer about what we were hearing from fans. The message was always, "The Eagles are our team. They're part of who we are. They're part of what makes Philly our town. Let's get back on the field."

I heard it from the boy at Children's Hospital who told me he was counting on watching the Eagles in the fall. I heard it from a man who talked to me as I left a restaurant, telling me how much he wanted the Eagles back.

We heard it in parking garages, doctor's offices, and putting greens. One intern came back saying she'd been pegged with lockout questions at a wedding she'd attended - in Indonesia.

No, we have no complaints as we get back to the grind. As we get back on the field.

We heard from the people we work for - our fans.

And they want what we want: winning football in Philadelphia. Starting now.

We always have, and always will, do everything we can to deliver that.

Back to work!