It turns out the Eagles will tweak their offensive line after all.

King Dunlap is back in, and Demetress Bell is out at left tackle, according to a report.

Eagles veteran defensive tackle Mike Patterson returned to practice today for the first time since having offseason brain surgery.

As Tim noted earlier, Dr. Robert Spetzler, the Arizona surgeon who performed the surgery, is the person who gave him the OK.

“They just wanted to give it time for the bone to heal,” Patterson said. “They just wanted to give it some time, and they gave it time. They just felt more comfortable for me to play now than earlier.

“I’ve been sending him [Spetzler] X-Rays every few months here and he’s been looking at them, keeping track of them, and he just told me and the Eagles I was ready to play and got cleared.”

Asked if he can return and make an impact this season, Patterson said, “Most definitely.”

There were varying degrees of willingness to talk about the Todd Bowles/Juan Castillo shake-up in the Eagles’ locker room Monday. Jason Babin, for example, has never been more skittish about a subject in his two years in Philadelphia. Others forced you to read between the lines.

There were a few revealing moments, however.

The biggest one came from backup linebacker Casey Matthews, who relayed Bowles’ message to the defense upon taking the reins.

“The biggest thing he said is, ‘We’re not going to predictable anymore.’ That’s what Coach said,” Matthews revealed, the obvious implication being that the ‘D’ was predictable under Castillo.

Last Sunday, after the Eagles fell to the Lions, Nnamdi Asomugha addressed reporters at his locker.

The Birds had shut down Calvin Johnson and the Detroit offense for three quarters, but collapsed in the fourth quarter and overtime of a 26-23 loss. Asomugha seemed to question Juan Castillo and some of the calls that were made at the end of the game. But today, he said that wasn’t his intention.

“I had a tough time last week when those stories came out, to be honest,” Asomugha said. “It was moreso a character thing. And it’s something that I would never do as a player. And I think you guys will start to know that a little bit more as we continue to get to know each other. There’s no underlying of ‘This was said, but it might have meant this.’ I wouldn’t do that to a coach and especially Juan. Just because as far as a player-coach relationship, we had been so communicative. It wasn’t a good feeling. But after speaking to him and him knowing that wasn’t the case, I think it made it a lot better. I don’t think that had anything to do with him being let go.”

Donovan McNabb advised Michael Vick, who received less than a vote of confidence from his head coach last week, to “play pissed off” moving forward. By the sounds of it, Vick will do just that.

“Man, I always play pissed off,” said Vick. “But more so now than [ever].”

Mike Patterson has received medical clearance to resume play and is expected to return to practice as early as Monday, according to a league source.

Dr. Robert Spetzler, the surgeon out of Arizona who performed Patterson’s brain surgery, has cleared the defensive tackle.

Today seems like a good day to check in on the progress of the Eagles’ rookie class. Here’s a player-by-player rundown.

When asked to describe the performance of Robert Griffin III Sunday, Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora offered an honest assessment.

“I’m not even going to lie. That’s the best quarterback we’ve played this year, for sure,” Umenyiora said, per the Giants’ web site. “It’s just unfortunate that he’s a rookie, because he’s going to be around here forever, doing stuff like that. That’s just crazy.”

The Giants have played both the Eagles and Cowboys already this season. In fact, they lost both those games. But Umenyiora will take Griffin over both Michael Vick and Tony Romo. And it sounds like he’s not alone.

Why aren’t the Eagles hitting on more big plays? Michael Vick still has a big-time arm. They still have an outstanding vertical downfield threat in DeSean Jackson and other options like Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek.

The way I see it, there are three factors. Let’s knock them out, one-by-one, with a little help from the All-22.

I’m pinch-blogging for T-Mac with the reader mailbag this week. These are e-mails I’ve received in the past few weeks (edited slightly for viewing purposes). Topics include the 2011 draft class, Nick Foles, Trent Edwards and more.

The Eagles could activate defensive tackle Mike Patterson on Monday, a league source tells CSN’s Derrick Gunn.

However, the source added that Patterson is a “ways off from game ready.”

The official Birds 24/7 Facebook page is up and running. Become a fan right here.

And don’t forget to follow Tim and Sheil on Twitter.

Five of the Eagles’ six games so far have been decided by a field goal or less.

It’s really an amazing number when you think about it. That’s why you’ll hear many argue that the Eagles could very well be a 1-5 team right now, while others make the case that they’re only a handful of plays away from 5-1.

The truth is, both parties are right. But the Eagles are 3-3 after six, and given all the bounces, calls, etc., that’s probably just about where they should be.

Given the way the offense has struggled, it’s likely that they are going to play a lot more close games the rest of the way.

And that’s why it’s time to start paying more attention to how special teams are simply killing the Eagles. The Birds are not coming close to winning the field-position battle on a week-to-week basis.

We haven’t talked about DeMeco Ryans in awhile.

Given that the defense gave up 20 points in the fourth quarter/overtime against the Lions and Andy Reid fired Juan Castillo, there were plenty of other topics to discuss during the week.

But when I looked at the All-22 for yesterday’s breakdown, one guy I noticed making plays (again) was Ryans.

Even during the bye week, Michael Vick can’t catch a break.

The Eagles quarterback was headed home to Virginia Beach Wednesday but had to make an unexpected stop in Berlin, Md. because of a flat tire, according to the Salisbury (Md.) Daily Times.

Luckily for Vick, he sustained the flat right across the street from an auto body shop. As he was waiting for his car, Vick, his wife and his two daughters were invited into a nearby gymnasium.