PHILADELPHIA -- A few weeks ago, the Philadelphia Eagles fourth-string quarterback said he was staring at pictures of dogs on his phone and had no clue how to respond to his new teammates.

This was Joe Callahan's initiation into one of the NFL's most tight-knit position groups.

Callahan said he didn't want to offend anyone. He liked all the photos. But the other three quarterbacks on the Eagles' roster started a group text to welcome Callahan onto the team, and the first the thing they asked him to do was rank each of their dogs. So Carson Wentz, Nick Foles and Nate Sudfeld sent pictures, and Callahan had to pick which pups he liked best.

"That was stressful," Callahan said. "I didn't want to actually rank the dogs, because that's tough. That gets personal. They all sent the pictures in, and I didn't know whose was whose. So I kind of ranked off picture quality and dog pose."

In other words, Callahan talked his way out of making a definitive list. He said he liked Wentz's golden retrievers, Foles' labrador retriever and Sudfeld's German Shepherd equally.

Callahan just hopes the exercise helped him establish a connection with the three friends and talented quarterbacks.

"I'm working my way into the group," he said with a laugh at last week's minicamp.

It might be a long process. Wentz, Foles and Sudfeld grew close during the team's Super Bowl season. They're all Christians with similar interests, laid back personalities and a strong affinity for one another.

Teammates last season said the bond between the three Eagles quarterbacks went beyond the normal friendship players at one position typically share. The signal-callers always seemed to be hanging out and joking together, players explained.

"They have a weird relationship, man," wide receiver Torrey Smith said in December. "They love each other to death. They are always together. Like the three amigos."

That closeness helped the quarterbacks navigate last season's tribulations, which included Foles stepping in as the starter when Wentz suffered a season-ending ACL tear late in the year.

Then this offseason, the three amigos made room for a fourth member of the quarterbacks room. Callahan, who played his college ball at Division III Wesley in Delaware, signed with the Eagles in May after spending most of the past two years with the Packers.

Callahan faces a steep uphill climb to earn a spot on the 53-man roster, but he provides a capable training camp arm and is angling to keep his NFL career alive. He thinks it'll benefit him to work alongside a young star in Wentz and a Super Bowl MVP in Foles, and he quickly learned that Philly's quarterbacks had a strong connection.

"Yeah, they are definitely close," Callahan said. "They've been accepting. It's not like they are their own little clique and I'm getting kicked out or anything."

Callahan hasn't felt like an outsider. He just had to get used to studying and practicing with three other quarterbacks who already felt especially comfortable together.

After learning from Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay the past couple seasons, Callahan has gotten a chance to experience a different type of quarterback room in Philadelphia. He's noticed that the Eagles position group meetings are full of discussion and suggestions, and he said he was impressed with how Wentz, Foles and Sudfeld supported him.

Callahan aimed to soak up every lessons he could during the offseason program. He'll plan to do the same when the team reconvenes for training camp next month.

"It's been great," Callahan said. "It's a really good quarterback room from the top down. I've just been really enjoying my time here and I'm just trying to be prepared as possible, and the guys have been there to answer every question I have."

And for Callahan, asking questions is a bit easier than answering the ones the other quarterbacks have posed over text.

-- @AaronKazreports