Fans Welcome Eagles Back To Lincoln Financial Field

By Ed Benkin

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Byron Maxwell felt the wrath of Eagles fans last December as a member of the Seattle Seahawks. On Tuesday, there was a different reaction.

Maxwell and the rest of the Eagles held their first open practice of the summer at Lincoln Financial Field. Thousands came out to the Linc to get their first look at the 2015 edition of the team. Maxwell and the rest of the newcomers were grateful for the warm welcome, something Maxwell didn't experience last season when the Seahawks beat the Eagles in the same stadium.

"It was crazy," said Maxwell. "It was different, of course, when we walked out. They didn't like what we did when we (the Seahawks) came here. Hopefully, we can do that to a lot more teams here."

The players enjoyed the atmosphere provided by the fans along with the chance to take the field at the Linc for the first time in 2015. However, Wide Receiver Jordan Matthews said the players were able to keep their focus on the field when it came time to get down to business.

"It's fun," Matthews said. "At the same time, you have to keep the game small. Don't try and make it too big. You want to come out here and do well for the fans but at the same time, you've got to minimize the game to make it come easy. When I come out here, I just focus on the ball."

For some veterans, the chance to practice at the Linc was an opportunity to get back into an NFL stadium after a long layoff. One of those players is Quarterback Tim Tebow, who was grateful to have a day at the Linc after being out of football for the past two seasons.

"It's fun when you are able to come out here and see fans that are super-fired up and passionate," said Tebow. "I love this game. I'm blessed to be able to do it and I think that's something that you always have to think about when you come out here. You can take it for granted."

There was still work to be done on the field for the Eagles, who practiced with pads for the first time this summer. There has been plenty of optimism over the first few days of camp, and Safety Malcolm Jenkins believes the team is ahead of schedule at this stage of their preparation.

"I think this training camp is a lot more advanced and a lot more cohesive than last year," Jenkins said. "Now, you've really got a whole new team. The units are a lot tighter. We started camp with the playbook up on both sides of the ball. It's very impressive and it's a testiment to what we've done this off-season."

The Eagles will have a day off on Wednesday before resuming workouts at the NovaCare Complex on Thursday. The team will hold another open practice at the Linc on Sunday.

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