When the locker room opened up to reporters Thursday afternoon, the place was humming. Nnamdi Asomugha and Kurt Coleman were engaged in a passionate conversation. Mardy Gilyard was chasing an unidentified victim around with a towel. Music blasted from Trent Cole‘s stall. (At one point an Oldies song came on and everyone began looking at Cole sideways. “It’s not me!” he said. “It’s Pandora!”)

There were signs of life for the first time in weeks.

Marty Mornhinweg foreshadowed these developments earlier in the day.

Every Thursday we select a few of your Twitter questions and provide the long-form answers they deserve. For a chance to have your question published on Birds 24/7, send it to @Tim_McManus.

Bobby April seems to understand.

He realizes that in the past two seasons, the Eagles have lost seven games decided by one possession or less. He knows that special teams have come up short time and again as the Birds have followed up a disappointing 8-8 campaign with a 3-6 start.

“The season’s been very disappointing because… if you have a dominating special teams – I mean a dominating special teams – many of the games that we’ve lost, we could have won,” April said. “You dominate ‘em, and a lot of the games that we lost, we could have won. So I believe that. I believe… if the games are close, special teams and turnovers are going to decide the game.”

And he’s right. The truth is, if the Eagles just got average play from their special teams, they might have been able to steal a couple wins.

A couple fun facts about Nick Foles:

— He cannot grow a mustache.

— He wears size 16 shoes, second largest on the team behind only King Dunlap (of course).

— He also (allegedly) has the biggest head on the squad.

Those tidbits are courtesy of Trent Edwards, who knows more about Foles than anyone on the team, and it’s not really close.

Vinny Curry sat at his locker Thursday afternoon, bumping some Michael Jackson from his phone as he got ready for practice.

Minutes earlier, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles was asked what the Eagles’ second-round pick needs to show in practice to get on the field.

There is nothing brewing on the Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie contract front, and that is not expected to change any time soon.

Nothing personal against the eccentric cornerback; the Eagles are not negotiating with any players at the moment, choosing instead to focus their energies on the season at hand. They have tried to stick to the policy of no in-season contract negotiations for the past few years.

The Eagles have some serious decisions to make when it comes to the corner position.

In case you missed it, we’ve started a special Coaching Buzz section here at Birds 24/7.

You’ll find everything we write about Andy Reid’s expected departure and Jeffrey Lurie’s coaching search right there. That includes links, rumors and notes on potential candidates.

Yesterday, we shared some information on Oregon’s Chip Kelly. There’s an interesting debate among some very smart football people about whether he’ll be successful in the NFL.

Much of the conversation in recent weeks has centered around who will replace Andy Reid as the Eagles’ head coach at year’s end.

While that decision will certainly be significant, finding the right quarterback will probably determine when this franchise gets to the Super Bowl next.

As Tim pointed out yesterday, that will likely be the new coach’s call. It could be Nick Foles. It could be someone they draft or acquire via trade or free agency this offseason. It could even be Michael Vick. Who knows?

Below is a list of the coaches and quarterbacks who have appeared in the Super Bowl the last five years.

By the way Robert Griffin III tells it, the Eagles were hot for the quarterback heading into April’s draft.

“I met with the Eagles. Coach Reid told me they were very interested in me, that you never know what could happen,” said RGIII. “I really enjoyed my meeting with him but obviously things didn’t work out, so I’m here with the Redskins and I’m proud to be here.”

One name you’re going to hear mentioned quite a bit when the topic of NFL job openings is discussed in the coming months is Oregon’s Chip Kelly.

Kelly turned down a chance to coach the Bucs last offseason. But as we’ve documented in our special Coaching Buzz section, reports indicate that teams are going to go after him hard this time around, and odds seem pretty good that Kelly will make the leap.

As conversation around Philadelphia continues to center around who’s going to replace Andy Reid, it seems appropriate to bring you information on potential candidates from time to time.

So when we saw this clip from Kelly’s press conference earlier today, we thought we’d share it with you.

Jeremy Maclin got called out by Troy Aikman — and from there, a good portion of this fan base — for pulling up on a slant route Sunday to avoid contact. The receiver defended himself on Wednesday.

“I think it’s funny, personally,” said Maclin. “The only people that really understand what happened on that play are the people that are down on that football field. It wasn’t like I was easing off because I didn’t want to get hit, I thought I couldn’t make the catch on the ball so I was bracing myself for the hit. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Earlier in the week, we posted a detailed Nick Foles analysis. But as always, it helps to see the All-22.

Amid a season of disappointment, Eagles rookie Fletcher Cox is providing a bright spot.

The Eagles do not plan on making a roster move at quarterback right now. They have had two QBs active for the majority of their games, and feel they can get by while Vick recovers from his concussion.

It is unknown exactly how long  that will take. According to a source who had a recent conversation with the signal-caller, the 32-year-old sounded “alert and strong.” While that is certainly good news, it is not necessarily an indicator that he is nearing a return. This week is out. Beyond that is more hazy. Vick still has to go through the NFL’s concussion protocol to be cleared.

In the meanwhile, Nick Foles gets to audition.

Here are some plays that stood out after having looked at the All-22 tape of the Eagles’ defense against the Cowboys.