Tight end Nate Lawrie remembered being a "wide-eyed" rookie during his two-week stint on the Eagles practice squad in 2004.

It is rare to see a practice squad player from six years ago return, but that's exactly what happened on Monday as Lawrie was signed to give the Eagles a blocking option at tight end.

The 6-6, 255-pound Lawrie honed his blocking skills from his father, Chris, who was a high school offensive line coach back in Indianapolis.

"It was an important thing for me to get out to the line of scrimmage and mix it up," Lawrie said. "I'm not a 270-pound guy so I really have to go after it and have good technique, good footwork and strike guys when I'm blocking."

Lawrie was a sixth-round draft pick of the Bucs in 2004 after a stellar career at Yale. Lawrie said that he's not aware of any current NFL players coming from Yale, but the Eagles have the rare distinction to have a player/coach combo from the Ivy League school (Dick Jauron). Lawrie has also spent time with the Saints and the Bengals, but last year he was with the Sacramento franchise of the UFL. Lawrie said that playing for Dennis Green didn't make him feel like the competition was a huge dropoff compared to the NFL.

"I had a ton of fun with it. I thought it was well-coached and well-run from that perspective. From that standpoint, it wasn't a letdown from where I'd been," Lawrie said. "There's good football being played there. I love playing the game. I was blessed to go to Yale and have a great education and I have that to fall back on, but I'm not in any mood to grow up just yet."

He may not be ready to grow up, but he's no longer the wide-eyed rookie who enjoyed a cup of coffee with the Eagles six years ago.

-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 11:30 a.m., August 9