Lito Sheppard said last week he would take his time coming back from the injury he suffered Nov. 20 against the New York Giants, a high left ankle sprain that required off-season surgery. The cornerback wasn't expected to take part in the Eagles' final minicamp, but decided yesterday morning to try more than the warm-up drills he had been doing the last few days.

The Philadelphia Eagles have re-signed former first-round selection Shawn Andrews to a seven-year extension. In Andrews's first game, he broke his right leg, but started 16 games with the Eagles last season, earning a reserve spot on the NFC Pro Bowl team.

Joe Banner said on Thursday that he and Andy Reid still need discuss when they want to open contract discussions with starting safeties Brian Dawkins and Mike Lewis.

Brian Dawkins could be entering his final season with the Philadelphia Eagles. But Dawkins isn't going to hold out for a new deal or cause any problems. "Whether it's a contract year, whether it's the first year after a contract, whether it's the third year on a four-year deal, I'm going to try my best to give everything I have regardless of the situation," Dawkins said Tuesday. "You want to get a deal done. That is always going to be in the back of your mind and to say that a guy doesn't think about that a lot would be dishonest. But when it bothers you, when it prohibits you from doing what you need to do on the field is when it becomes a problem. That is not going to happen with me. I am going to go out and play ball."

Justin Gatlin's agent, Renaldo Nehemiah, said Thursday the Eagles have made several inquiries the last three weeks to see if his client was interested in playing football. Nehemiah, who played in the NFL for four seasons in the 1980s after starring in the hurdles, said the Eagles have left phone messages and sent e-mails to him about Gatlin. "Football isn't a necessity" for Gatlin, Nehemiah said. Gatlin, who won Olympic gold in the 100 in Athens, last played football some nine years ago, after quitting his high school team in 10th grade after a dispute with his coach. "He's doing well enough he doesn't need it," Nehemiah said.