The competition's on at punter for the Philadelphia Eagles between second-year incumbent

and veteran

, most recently of Dallas, who are splitting the reps "50/50", said special teams coordinator Bobby April.

"I have them working to get back, because (McBriar) has not punted much in a long time," April said. "He is kind of getting his strength back. We are going to gauge it and he will gauge it more than I am about how much he needs. I think with how we practice once a day, and not like the old camp (with its separate special teams practices), these guys won't punt as much in camp anyway. The schedule does not permit it."

April said that punting may not be the major issue between them -- it may be holding for kicker

.

"(Alex's) feedback on that will be critical," April said. "I mean, it won't be a deal-breaker because both guys can hold. When there's a big separation in their ability to hold, obviously it's more of a factor. But absolutely I will get his feedback and relay it to (Andy Reid) because it's important."

Really important.

"To me, (the field goal) is the biggest play in football right now," April said. "So many games come down, the real gut-check games come down to a field goal and so many games now are so close. Boy, that play, you better get that play in, you better get that play successful."

Out with linebackers in with a corner

The

uncluttered their linebacker position Thursday afternoon by shipping

and

to the

in exchange for third-year cornerback

and a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2013 NFL draft.

The Colts took Thomas (6-0, 192 pounds), a USC product, with a third-round pick (94th overall) in the 2010 draft. He missed 2010 with a knee injury, and in 2011 Thomas appeared in nine games, starting five, registering 33 tackles and three passes defended.

"This is a big corner that can run and he was with the Colts last year and he played some," Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman said. "He started some games for them and has played some cover two. We think he can go press and is instinctive. We scouted him at USC and he'll come compete with our other corners and add competition to that spot."

Roseman said the deal made sense for both teams.

"For us it was just about the value," Roseman said. "They were looking for some linebackers and we also want to see more of our young linebackers, so those guys get a great opportunity here. We just felt like it was a win-win situation for us and for the Colts. We are always looking for corners and linemen; that is something we will always be on the lookout for. Then the opportunity to also get a draft pick involved as well."

Fokou and Lloyd, both seventh-round draft picks of the Eagles (2009 and 2011, respectively) may have struggled to make the Eagles. Fokou started seven games last season but made much more of an impact on special teams, and Lloyd never played a down for the Birds.

Roseman said he didn't know if Thomas will compete at nickel corner for the Eagles.

"I haven't seen him play nickel so I couldn't tell you that it is something that we project him yet to do," Roseman said. "We'll see once he gets here if he can do it and go from there."



Injuries pile up

The news on the injury front started out well at Thursday's training camp sessions at

, but got worse as the day went on.

After the morning session defensive end

said his hamstring injury wasn't serious.

"I was coming in on a blitz and need to make an adjustment on my rush and I tweaked the hamstring right there," Jenkins said. "I shouldn't be out for too long. It's just a tweak."

With Jenkins out, four starting defensive linemen (

, shoulder;

, calf;

, recovering from surgery) are missing from practices.

"We can have defensive line meetings in the training room," Jenkins said.

The intensely hot afternoon session saw six different Eagles leave the practice fields: running back

(cramps), safety

(cramps), tackle

(right shoulder), linebacker

(left hamstring), safety

(right groin) and wide receiver

(right hamstring).

None of the injuries seemed serious except perhaps Chaney (who had just been named as first-team nickel linebacker), who underwent an MRI Thursday night, though Eagles officials offered no prognosis on any of the injured.

Starting left guard

never even made it to practice, being felled by illness.

Afternoon highlights

Highlights from the afternoon full-contact practices were some especially impressive lateral movement by defensive tackle

in running drills, very effective penetration by defensive end

and linebacker

against the run, and rookie running back

outrunning the first-team defense on an outside burst for a score.

It's intense out there

Middle linebacker

said the most intense drills for him at camp where the 9 (offense)-on-7 (defense) drills.

"Every play is a running play and every one of those plays there's a tight end or a fullback coming at me as a linebacker, one-on-one," Ryans said.



Working out

The Eagles worked out Temple graduate

, a defensive end, after Thursday's afternoon session.

Brown (6-6, 275), who attended Central Dauphin High School, started 13 games for Temple and made 40 tackles as a senior.



Today's agenda

Practices today will be 8:15 a.m. (walk-through) and and 2:45 p.m. Running backs and linebackers will be in the autograph tent.