The scene is the same every training camp. Players speed around the curves of Lehigh's hilly campus, up into the Sayre Park dormitories where the Eagles camp for the next two and a half weeks and unpack their belongings.
Only rookies and selected veterans report today, so there are few players and even fewer big names. The "selected veteran" designation is often reserved for players recovering from injuries and quarterbacks, all of whom report.
Continue reading after the jump for more...
One of the bigger names to arrive this afternoon was Jeremy Bloom, the skier-turned-NFL returner who the Eagles selected with a fifth-round pick in 2006. Bloom was out of all last season and enters camp as the favorite for the Eagles' return slot.
He's already had one training camp in the Lehigh dorms and in the Lehigh cafeteria, so he knows what to expect.
"I feel more at home, so that helps me feel more comfortable," Bloom said. "I wouldn't call it relaxed. Nothing about what's going to happen the next two-three weeks -- and the whole season -- is going to be relaxing."
Bloom packed noticeably lighter than last season. All he unloaded from his car were two suitcases. Bloom said he overpacked last season and knew what to expect this season.
Another player in that situation is Chris Gocong, the Eagles' third-round pick last season, but spent the year on injured reserve with a stinger. Gocong is now expected the Eagles' starting strong-side linebacker and was brought back to the scene of the injury on his ride up to Lehigh.
"I was driving by the Lehigh hospital and that's where I got my MRI and all that stuff," Gocong said.
He said he didn't think the injury was that bad until he was sitting in the MRI machine.
Now he's trying to erase that memory. Gocong got married during the off-season and honeymooned in Hawaii.
Bethlehem is not Maui, although compared to last year, this training camp might seem like a honeymoon to the veterans who spent last season injured.
Continue checking the blog for more on the players' arrival, including the best gadget and oddest shoes of the first day of training camp.
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