Wide receiver Kevin Curtis stood out at Monday's practice as one of the few accomplished veterans to be here. He actually asked the coaches to take part in these first three days of practice to work out any soreness in the groin injury that hampered him last year and then caused him to have a second surgery in the spring.

"I asked them if I could come here early, actually. They didn't want me here. I begged them so they let me come," said Curtis, who led the Eagles with 77 catches in 2007. He arrived with a buzz cut at training camp. "I wanted to see where the groin is at now, rather than wait until Day 1 when everyone is here and we're live. I'd rather have a few days to ease my way back into it, so I'm glad I'm here."

Actually, he was joking. The fact that he didn't get through a full practice during the Organized Team Activities prompted the coaches to ask him to come early.

"I'm not that ambitious," Curtis said jokingly.

Curtis joins Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson, Shaheer McBride, Brandon Robinson and Marcus Thigpen as receivers for the opening five practices. No. 1 draft pick Jeremy Maclin remains unsigned.

"I felt good today," said Curtis. "You can't really duplicate practice. I've been out running hard and cutting on it and having really good workouts at home leading up to this. So far, so good. I didn't do a whole lot and it's going to get a lot more intense as we go, but after one practice down, it's feeling pretty good.

"I'm looking forward to that day (when I don't have to think about the injury). Hopefully, that day comes pretty soon."

*-- Posted by Dave Spadaro, 10:43 a.m., July 27