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Donovan McNabb said that 65 friends, family members and former teammates will be in attendance Thursday to watch his No.5 go into the rafters. His parents, Sam and Wilma, will be there. Brian Dawkins will emcee the ceremony. Chad Lewis, Correll Buckhalter, Jon Runyan, Bobby Taylor, Jamaal Jackson and more are expected to show.

And, by no coincidence whatsoever, his former head coach will be in the building as well.

“That was part of the decision-making,” said McNabb to a small group of reporters Wednesday evening at Lincoln Financial Field. “I wanted him to be a part of it. I think it it’s rightfully so, for me to go into the ring of honor and have my number retired, I want the person who was more than responsible for it, took a chance on me, stuck with me for 11 years and had success with me [to be there.]”

Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid are back in town, you may have heard. The Eagles are hosting Reid’s Chiefs on Thursday night, of course, and decided to hold a retirement ceremony for their former quarterback while their old head coach is in the building.

What should you expect?

Tim and Sheil hosted a special Tuesday edition of Birds 24/7 on 97.5 The Fanatic. Look beyond the Andy Reid story line, and you’ll quickly notice that this is a big game for the Eagles. Can they pull it off? And what to make of this team through two weeks?

You can listen to the podcast here or download it here from iTunes.

They’ll be broadcasting live from Smiths in Center City from 6 to 7  Thursdays during the season.

The Eagles have signed cornerback Roc Carmichael off the Houston Texans’ practice squad, according to a league source.

Originally a fourth-round pick by the Texans in 2011, Carmichael (5-10, 190) appeared in six games for Houston last season, recording nine tackles and one pass defensed.  The 25-year-old spent his rookie season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. He was a contributor on special teams for the Texans.

To make room on the roster, Brandon Hughes has been placed on short-term injured reserve.

DeSean Jackson caught a career-high nine passes on Sunday against the Chargers. He finished with 193 yards, second only to his memorable 210-yard outburst against the Cowboys in December of 2010. It was a monster day. And it could have been much bigger.

His 37-yard touchdown was negated by an illegal formation penalty in the third quarter. And he and Michael Vick just missed hooking up on a few long bombs before finally connecting on a 61-yarder late in the third.

“That’s very frustrating, honestly. The touchdown got called back, there was one I caught out of bounds when my right foot stepped out, then the overthrown one that slipped off of my hands,” Jackson said. “But that’s part of the game. We just have to keep going and keep working. Overall, I felt I had a great game.”

A big reason Jackson was still able to excel is because he was active in the short game as well. In seasons past, it was often feast or famine, where productivity was largely tied to whether he hit on the big play. Not so much this year.

Mychal Kendricks looked a little hobbled as he walked around the locker room following Sunday’s loss to the Chargers.

“It’s football,” said Kendricks. “Everyone’s dinged up.”

The second-year linebacker has a groin injury, turns out, though he was listed as a full participant for Monday’s practice.

Brandon Boykin (quad), Brent Celek (shoulder) and  Jason Kelce (thumb) were the other new names on the injury report. Celek was hurt on the same play that Michael Vick was banged up on late in the contest. Both players only missed one down before re-entering the game. Vick was not listed on the report.

Chip Kelly conceded during his day-after press conference that, in hindsight,  he would have handled a couple things differently down the stretch Sunday against the Chargers.

“I’ve made mistakes, I think we’ve all made mistakes,” he said. “No one coaches a perfect game, no one plays a perfect game, but you have to learn from those mistakes and hope they don’t happen again.”

Lane Johnson was assigned to Dwight Freeney for much of Sunday’s game, so you can understand why the rookie was  trying to gain any advantage he could think of.

One trick of the tackle trade is to line up as far back as possible while still remaining on the line of scrimmage.

“I think you’ll see that a bunch with tackles in the NFL because you have such fast guys and any advantage you can get, you’re going to try and get…It’s a fine line,” said Johnson.

He crossed that line more than once against the Chargers, at least according to the referees.

Philip Rivers completed 77 percent of his throws Sunday. Threw for 419 yards and three touchdowns in the Chargers’  33-30  win over the Eagles. Took just one hit in the pocket, per the stat sheet.

If it looked like Rivers knew exactly what was coming, well, he did, according to several of the Eagles’ defensive players.

“Phillip Rivers just seemed to know everything that we were trying to throw at him,” said Cary Williams.

“They understood some of our calls or whatever was going on, it looked like he knew exactly what DeMeco [Ryans] was calling to a degree. He knew exactly what we were in to a degree. It was unfortunate. Sometimes you get outwitted, sometimes you get outplayed and I think today was one of those days.”

Join Tim and Sheil for a live chat during today’s Eagles-Chargers game. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Looks like the national pundits are feeling the Eagles in this matchup. Here’s what they’re saying about Chip Kelly‘s squad heading into the Chargers game:

Eagles starting cornerback Bradley Fletcher has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Chargers.

The 27-year-old sustained a concussion late in the game against Washington. He had yet to pass the ImPACT test as of Thursday afternoon.

The Eagles’ depth in the secondary will be tested. Brandon Boykin is expected to start on the outside in Fletcher’s absence, though he could  very well move into the slot in certain packages as well. Brandon Hughes, who is recovering from a fractured hand, is a logical candidate to play on the outside when Boykin does move inside.

Chip Kelly was asked on Thursday how he would go about defending the Eagles’ offense if he was facing them this week.

“Fortunately,” Kelly replied, “I don’t have to.”

But John Pagano does. The Chargers’ second-year defensive coordinator has the task of trying to contain a cheetah of an offense that burst onto the field Monday, wreaked havoc for 30 minutes, and then disappeared into the night. There is little film to go off, and not much time to get his team prepared for the pace at which the Eagles operate.

“Trying to simulate what they do and their tempo…It’s very hard to probably match that tempo anywhere,” said Pagano.

Tim and Sheil look back at the Eagles’ eye-opening performance against Washington. Is this style of play sustainable? The guys explore that question from a variety of angles.

You can listen to the podcast here or download it here from iTunes.

They’ll be broadcasting live from Smiths in Center City from 6 to 7 Thursdays during the season. Please note that, due to the Thursday night game against the Chiefs, next week’s show will be on Tuesday.

 The irony was not lost on LeSean McCoy.

For the past four seasons under Andy Reid, the popular argument was that McCoy did not get the ball enough. Now one game into the Chip Kelly era, and the concern is that his workload will be too large.

“Which one is it?” he asked.

You tell us. Were the 31 carries and 32 overall touches too much? Not enough? Just right?