Kevin Curtis recovering

Kevin Curtis sat out the first day of the Eagles’ minicamp yesterday and won’t practice at least until next month’s voluntary workouts as he recovers from sports hernia surgery performed last month.

In August, the wide receiver had initial surgery to partially correct the injury. He missed the first six games of the season and returned by late October. But off-season rehabilitation didn’t fully heal the problem, and Curtis went under the knife on April 15.

“It’s been a couple of weeks, and it feels really good,” Curtis said. “I’m sure I’ll be ready in June.”

Curtis had 77 catches in 2007, second only to Brian Westbrook among the Eagles. With Curtis still on the mend, the other pass catchers were sharp yesterday.

Some fans might have preferred to see Anquan Boldin, Braylon Edwards or Chad Ocho Cinco in camp, but trades for those veterans did not happen.

The Eagles chose wide receiver Jeremy Maclin 19th overall and used a fifth-round pick on tight end Cornelius Ingram in hopes of improving the offense.

“This obviously was a passing camp, because you can’t work on the run game much here,” coach Andy Reid said of the sessions that had players in helmets but no pads. “But there weren’t a lot of balls on the ground.”

A lot of that had to do with Maclin, who earned his keep during his first official day as a professional. The rookie out of Missouri ran with each unit, looked very natural, and at one point beat cornerback Ellis Hobbs on a deep fade during 7-on-7 passing drills.

“I’m definitely tired,” Maclin said. “But I feel pretty confident. I’m going to take coaching, because I’m a coachable guy. And I’m going to use it to get better.”

For quarterback Donovan McNabb, who has asked for more playmakers, it had to feel like taking the wheel of a new locomotive, though McNabb declined to talk to the media.

“We added another crazy, talented guy,” Curtis said. “We lose Greg [Lewis] . . . but I think it’s just going to make us better as a corps.”

Maclin doesn’t come from a West Coast-style offense as receiver DeSean Jackson did when he left California to join the Eagles last season. There will be a learning curve, but as Reid said the “timeline is you get ready right now.”

“I’m starting to pick up on it,” Maclin said. “Everything they say is fast, fast, fast. They want speed, speed, speed. Once you eliminate the thinking, you can go that much faster.”

Said Jackson: “If you’re a smart dude you can come in and get it done.”

The Eagles carried six receivers last season. Only Lewis is gone. Hank Baskett, Jason Avant and Reggie Brown join Jackson and Curtis as returnees – for now. Brown did not dress for the NFC championship game last season and has not hidden his dissatisfaction with his decreased role.

“You want to get out there and tell everyone how you feel,” Brown said. “I’m taking a different approach.”

The 2005 second-round selection wouldn’t say if he asked for a trade. Asked if he was surprised he hadn’t been moved elsewhere, Brown said, “I see myself as a nice little package – hard to give away.”

After increasing his receptions in each of his first three seasons, Brown had only 18 catches in 10 games last year. That partly had to do with Jackson’s emergence. He had 62 receptions for 912 yards.

Reid said he thought Maclin handled his first day with aplomb. However, there was one bad habit the coaches corrected right away.

“They say I glide,” Maclin said. “So I’m going to try and stop gliding. . . . I’m going to go full speed everywhere I go from now on.”

Hope Curtis gets better we dont need him out again like we had him out last year.  In other news though its good to see that Maclin is doing well.  His first practice he caught all 12 balls that were thrown his way.  Something that us Eagles fans are not used too.