The changes Chip Kelly is implementing extend well beyond the locker room shake-up.

One area where players are already noticing a difference is in the weight room.

“The weight conditioning is a little bit more up-tempo than it was under [previous strength and conditioning coach] Barry Rubin,” said center Jason Kelce. “I think that part of the reason why is because we’re going to run up-tempo. Instead of being able to relax and just kind of walk around the weight room and do your lifts, it’s more at a steady pace where you have a set amount of time rest period. I think the receivers and those guys might be doing a little bit more conditioning. They know they’re in for a lot of running in this offense.”

There was a time back in their college playing days when teammates Jason Kelce and Connor Barwin locked horns.

“I was known as a guy in college that you don’t really screw around with,” said Kelce. “I’m not trying to toot my own horn at all, but a lot of guys on the defensive side kind of feared that. They didn’t want to get into a scuffle with me. But I can remember vividly one play with Connor where I got into him and I started jawing off at him. I can’t repeat what he said, but it got to the point where he was like, ‘You don’t want to screw with me, Kelce! I’m crazy, too!’

“He is that kind of guy where he ain’t afraid of nothing.”

The health of the offensive line is obviously a major issue heading into the 2013 season. The Eagles lost Todd Herremans (dislocated foot), Jason Peters (ruptured Achilles) and Jason Kelce (torn MCL, partially torn ACL) to serious injuries in 2012. Their ability to rebound will be critical if Chip Kelly wants to experience some semblance of success in his first year at the helm.

With the offseason program set to begin on April 1 and the first minicamp a little over two weeks away, we checked in on the triumvirate’s status.

Quarterback EJ Manuel is doing a weekly diary here on Birds 24/7 as we count down to the draft. In this installment, he details his private workout with the Eagles on Thursday.

Ziggy Ansah says he knew nothing about American football until he got to BYU.

The 6-5, 271-pound defensive end/outside linebacker grew up playing soccer in Ghana. When he got to Utah, he tried out for the basketball team a couple times, but didn’t make it. He ran track too before eventually deciding to give football a shot.

“I was really athletic,” Ansah said at the Combine, where he ran a 4.63 40. “I didn’t want to just sit around and go to school. I wanted to do something. Since basketball didn’t work out, I wanted to do football.”

When Eagles players return to the NovaCare locker room in the coming weeks, they’re going to notice some changes.

Instead of having the space organized by positional groups, Chip Kelly has decided to mix things up. A quarterback might find himself next to a safety, a wide receiver alongside a linebacker, and so on.

“I think it’s going to help us blend a little better as a team,” said offensive lineman Todd Herremans, who hosted a fund-raising event for the Herremans Foundation Thursday night. “You’re with your position so much in the meeting rooms and everything like that. This will also have us hold each other accountable.”

The Eagles held a private workout for quarterback EJ Manuel Thursday in Tallahassee, FL.

Quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor was the lone team representative, per a source. The entire session was taped, so others in the organization will have a good understanding of how everything played out.

The Eagles announced today that they’ve traded fullback Stanley Havili to the Colts in exchange for defensive end Clifton Geathers.

Geathers (6-7, 325) is 25-years-old. He was originally a sixth-round pick by the Browns out of South Carolina back in 2010.

When Victor Butler left Philadelphia after his visit earlier this week, the indication was that the outside linebacker could potentially still join the Eagles.

But that door is now shut. The Saints announced today that they’ve agreed to terms with the outside linebacker. It’s a two-year deal, but financial details have not yet been released.

How will Trent Cole and Vinny Curry fit in a 3-4? Will Jason Peters return to form? And who is the pick at No. 4? We tackle that and more.

Could George Washington High School’s Sharrif Floyd be headed home? Our latest draft profile takes a look at the Florida defensive tackle who could be a target for the Eagles with the No. 4 pick.

Less than a month from now, draft prospects will turn into draft picks, and draft picks into NFL players. Rookie minicamp is slated for the second week in May. Then onto OTAs, the mandatory minicamp, and before you know it, training camp. Ideally, you would like your new players (and especially your top 5 pick) to be healthy and ready to go from the opening gun.

The reality for the team that drafts Dion Jordan is that they will have to wait to get him into the mix.

Add two big names to the list of players the Eagles are taking a look at in front of the 2013 NFL Draft.

According to sources, the team will be bringing in Florida defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd and Central Michigan offensive tackle Eric Fisher for visits.

Both are potential top-5 picks, and could conceivably be selected by the Eagles at No. 4.

Eagles fans may have a tough time developing a healthy dislike for Robert Griffin III.

The Redskins’ signal-caller recently talked about his admiration for a former quarterback who played in this city.

Matt Barkley “is going to answer a lot of questions” at his pro day. Plus, does Andy Reid see a young Donovan McNabb in Geno Smith?