Tomorrow morning, Kevin Kolb will hit the practice field at Lehigh University for his first training camp as the No. 1 quarterback of the Eagles. Today, he arrived around 4 p.m. and talked briefly to a throng of reporters about how much things have changed since last year.

"It's exciting," Kolb said. "It's something I've been waiting for for a long time and I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

"This is as important as it gets for us and ... we're a young team and we have to build a little bit more rapport, but I think there's a lot there to build off of. There's plenty of talent. All it takes now is hard work and we're definitely going to do that part of it."

Kolb, who is rooming with tight end Brent Celek while he's here, said that he doesn't have any different approach now that he's "the man."

"I just do my thing," he said. "I've been thrown in some situations throughout my whole career, and I've always leaned back on just playing football and that's what I'm going to do here. I don't want to get too caught up in trying to fill Donovan (McNabb's) shoes or being the quarterback of the Eagles, I just want to play the game like I know how and distribute the ball to the athletes around me.

"It's a physical and mental thing. I worked really hard this off-season, the last couple weeks included. Again, I look forward to getting on the field and proving (myself) and watching what this team can do."

So tomorrow, Kolb will work with a slew of young receivers, tight ends and running backs in advance of the arrival of the veterans on Thursday. But just because a guy like Blue Cooper isn't going to be starting game 1 for the Eagles, doesn't mean that Kolb isn't going to get anything out of practice. The more reps you can get in the offense, the better, and, after a three-year apprenticeship, Kolb is perfecting his handle on the offense.

"I think it fits me great," he said. "I feel like we all work really well together and that's one of the things that will hopefully take us to the next level."

-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 9:43 p.m., July 26