With their new-found freedom from practice schedules, travel, and games, Eagles  players may find themselves overwhelmed with all of their freedom. So many options–what should they do?

Shop. Eat. Sleep. Shop. Club. Watch TV. Play video games. Repeat.

It seems that the Birds squad has been engaged in all of the above. But what proportion is the right balance? Rookie OG Julian Vandervelde wrestles with exactly this issue.

That’s a lot of Words With Friends. But, hey–you only live once…

Happy Friday, Eagles fans. Whether your weekend be spent sleeping, on Skyrim, eating,  or playing WWF, enjoy it.

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My head knows that there will be no more Eagles football until next fall (*sobs*), but somehow the realization hasn’t fully sunk in. And it probably won’t until this weekend, when I see other teams trying to make it to the Super Bowl and not the Eagles.

One of the many signs that it’s the offseason? The fact that the biggest story in Eagles news was related to a tweet.

It’s going to be a long offseason. Even selecting a Tweet of the Week was infinitely harder today than it was during the season because the players are tweeting up a storm during their free team. My Eagles Twitter list took ages to scroll through. A reminder, guys: It’s quality, not quantity that counts. I’ve got a feature to run here.

It was a tweet sent on New Year’s Day that makes this week’s Tweet of the Week honors.

That’s a loaded promise. But I respect Mike Vick for acknowledging how heavy our hearts were in disappointment that the team finished strong, but not strong enough.

It’s true–there is a lot of work that Mike Vick must put in this offseason. There is a lot of work all the Eagles must put in. I want to believe Vick, and I do think the Eagles will have a strong 2012, but there are so many variables that it simply isn’t Vick’s promise to make.

But with that said, I still love the tweet and what it represents: Responsibility, accountability, disappointment, and a fire to push harder in the future. Go ‘head, Vick.

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Fellas, Jason Babin’s got your back. The holiday season is upon us. That means it’s time for you to make some important decisions.

Namely, to figure out whether you plan to stick with that girl you’ve been dating.

For those of you are single but in relationships, hopefully you love your girlfriend, see yourself spending the rest of your life with her, all of that good stuff. But if  things aren’t yet that serious, or you’re not sure how much you like this person, the holidays can be tough.

Do you meet her family? Ask her to meet yours? Claim you’re leaving town for Thanksgiving and Christmas so as to avoid that conversation and not have to see her entirely? And what about the presents?  What on earth do you get her for Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa?

You have a choice. You can end it now. But if you do not and don’t want to be deemed a bastard by all of womankind, you need to break up, like, soon. Like today or tomorrow. At least according to Eagles defensive end Jason Babin.

Gentlemen, Mr. Babin has given you some good advice. If you’re not happy or not that interested in whomever you are seeing at the moment, time to step up and say something. Break it off now. And if you don’t,  you’re going to need to stick it out through March. At least through…let’s say February 17, a few days after Valentine’s Day. It’s a testament to Jason’s goodness that he’s encouraging you to stick out all of February for Black History month. That would be a nice touch.

So, do we all understand Jason Babin’s advice? If you commit to stay through one holiday, you are committing to several. This is a package deal. But the time to make a decision is now. And if the decision is to stay, time to get working on that holiday shopping list. Philly Sports Muse is happy to offer some insights and suggestions for a small fee.

Happy Friday, Eagles fans!

Want more Philly Sports Muse? You can find me on Twitter at @sports_muse and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/phillysportmuse.

You’ve likely heard of the injury but you have no idea what it actually is. I refer to turf toe. The affliction is playing a role in minimizing one of the biggest storylines of the Eagles game Sunday versus the Cardinals on Sunday: Kevin Kolb’s return to Philadelphia. Kolb has missed last week’s game against St. Louis due to the injury, and looks to miss a start in Philadelphia as well.

Turf toe is also affecting the Eagles offensive line, with OG Evan Mathis having missed both Wednesday and Thursday’s practice with the injury.

So what the heck is turf toe? Evan Mathis took to Twitter to try to answer questions from confused followers.

That’s certainly good to know.

What does it feel like?

Poor Evan.

To get a bit more technical, turf toe

can occur after a very vigorous upward bending of the big toe. It got it’s name due to the fact that it occurs frequently in people who play games on artificial surfaces. The shoe grips hard on the surface and sticks causing bodyweight to go forward and so bending the toe up.

Image via sportsinjuryclinic.net

You may now consider yourselves enlightened.

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It’s not just Friday, it’s Friday of Cowboys Week. Can life get any better? Not until you’ve seen the Eagles Tweet of the Week, it can’t.

Today’s Tweet of the Week features the appearance of an Eagles player not previously highlighted here, one Evan Mathis. Mathis is a man of conviction, and he took to Twitter this week to advocate what is an important issue for him.

I was surprised upon initial reading this tweet, as I thought there was a pact between NFL players on Twitter to use “LOL” in virtually every tweet. Many are so fond of the acronym that it seems to have become a punctuation mark of sorts. I was certain heavy inclusion of  “LOL” was a mandatory part of NFL  social media training.

What the world needs is “LOL” in moderation. My friend Steve has a rule that we should all follow: You may not use LOL unless you are actually laughing out loud. Seems pretty simple, and it would undoubtedly cut down on criminal misuse/overuse of the word. And we could avoid war.

Everybody wins!

To you, Mr. Mathis, I say this: LOL. LMAO. ROTFL. ROTFLMAO. LMBO. LMBBO.

Et cetera, et cetera.

I do think that even Evan will be okay with fans using LOL often during Sunday night’s game in order to express our laughter at the Dallas’ failures. Now let’s go whip some Cowboys!

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Today’s Eagles Tweet of the Week is a little different this week. I’m changing the rules a little bit.

Today, we highlight the tweet of a former Eagle, Leonard Weaver. Weave was and continues to be a fan favorite in Philadelphia. He continues to rehab to work through the extensive injuries that ended his season last year.

The injuries will likely end his career, despite Weaver’s faith, positivity and hard work. It may not happen. But if this is the reality with which Weaver is faced, it will not be for lack of effort.

Weaver has sacrificed his body and possibly his career for the Philadelphia Eagles, and yet the team didn’t bother to contact him directly to let him know he was cut. Weave has left that ugliness behind him and continues to root for the team.

Leonard Weaver bleeds green. He is right in there fighting with the fans and with the team. Just one of the many reasons that make Weaver such a special and likeable man.

I want to have the same confidence as Weaver, but I can’t say that I’m there right now.

Happy Friday, Eagles fans. Let’s hope for some signs of life this Sunday in Washington.

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Jeremy Maclin

A 1-4 record and being the punchline to every sports joke in the nation will put you on edge.

We’ve seen it this week with normally mild-mannered Jeremy Maclin, who snapped at a reporter who asked about the littany of dropped passes that have been a problem with Philadelphia as of late.

I have often commented to Mr. Muse on how mature rookie Jason Kelce already seems, and how naturally good he is with the media. But it seems he is on edge as well, with rumors flying on Thursday that he and Evan Mathis tried to physically intimidate fans who had signs calling for the end of Andy Reid across from the Novacare.

Kelce and Mathis went on the record to clarify the situation. Mathis stated

“I didn’t jump out of my car and threaten to beat them up or anything. I know the Philadelphia fans are really into it but we didn’t need to see that negative message about the coach and our team.”

Kelce said

“Don’t bring it to our front door,” he said. “We’re 1-4, we know that; we don’t need a sign like that in front of us. These are very passionate and loyal fans but the team did not need to see that.”

At 7:30 this morning, Jason Kelce will speak with Angelo Cataldi on 94 WIP to face the accusations of the fans involved in the alleged incident as well as Cataldi’s own harsh comments on Kelce from Thursday’s show.

I’m sure that Kelce is hoping that this interview will allow him to address what happened, then put this matter behind him for good.

These kinds of distractions are exactly what this team does not need at the moment.

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In Philadelphia, our media knows not just how to report the news, but how to become the story. Need I remind you of the Larry Mendte/Alycia Lane craziness?

Not to be outdone by local news reporters, this week two Eagles beat writers decided to make headlines themselves. Frankly, after what we saw last week on the field, the distraction was welcome.

In this corner, the Daily News‘ Les Bowen. Well known. Well respected. Experienced. Humorous. Seemingly mild-mannered.

In the other corner is tthe Inquirer’s Jeff McLane. The young buck. Still the relatively new kid on the block. So he’s got something to prove.

McLane took to Twitter on Tuesday not just to defend himself after a perceived slight by Bowen, but to go after the old guy calling him, among other things, “an old hack.” Bowen very pointedly said via the social medium that he would deal with the situation the way real men do: Face to face.

Boy, did he ever. By punching McLane in the side of the head when he saw him at the next Eagles practice.

That day, it wasn’t the team that dominated the news. It was the beat writers. It was  an alternate universe where players talked about the media and not the reverse.

Accordingly, there are a few tweets of the week today, all having to do with the Beatdown by Bowen (I’m hoping this phrasewill be his new Twitter bio/ Whaddya think, Les?).

DE Jason Babin got it exactly right:

But WR Riley Cooper wanted to know more:

DE Darryl Tapp took some time on to take a break from easing back into practice after his pectoral injury to inquire about the situation:

But then Tapp got the real scoop:

Even former Eagle Quintin Mikell heard about the news in St. Louis and had to check in.

Happy Friday, Eagles fans! A bit of advice: Try not to piss off Les Bowen this weekend.

Happy Friday, ladies and gents! After a brief hiatus, I hope to resume the Eagles Tweet of the Week feature on Philly Sports Muse on a more consistent basis. In all honesty, in the days of the roster being at 90 I barely knew who was on the Birds’ squad, let alone their Twitter handles.

Now that we’re down to 53 we’re back in business!

Today’s tweet is from rookie starting center Jason Kelce. It is sheer awesome.

I am not a fan of WWE, but even I would like to see this. How do we make this happen?

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After a brief hiatus, the Friday Philly Sports Muse tradition of bringing you the Eagles Tweet of the Week has returned. It’s usually meant to be a fun, lighthearted celebration of the end of the work week, but that’s not so easy to do after a game as ugly as Thursday night’s matchup in Pittsburgh.

No one knows this better than the the Birds, who struck a somber tone on Twitter after the loss. Which is really the only acceptable response.

Time for the team to suck up the loss, reflect on and correct their mistakes, and get ready for the all-important 3rd preseason game next week against Cleveland.

Happy Friday, Eagles fans.

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