THUMBS DOWN: To Eagles owner Jeff Lurie for his lame defense of Andy Reid's news conference behavior. Lurie suggested that Reid is the way he is with the media because he's "protecting his players." But that's a cop out. The truth is he has just stopped trying. He's grown as weary of us as we have of him. Early on, he believed dealing with the media was an important part of his job. Came to news conferences prepared. Now? Now he arrives at our little get-togethers like he's getting ready to have a barium enema. His smart-ass response to Les Bowen's why-didn't-your-team-make-the-playoffs question last Sunday was inexcusable. But you know what also was inexcusable? The fact that he didn't even bother to mention that his starting center, Jason Kelce, injured his foot in the game. If you're going to start every news conference for 12 years with, "OK, injuries," at least be thorough.