After the team wrapped up its three-day mini-camp Monday, Lito Sheppard, as promised, talked with reporters. The subject: football.

Sheppard would not dip into the pool of controversy, opting to bypass questions relating to whether he and free agent acquisition Asante Samuel can co-exist in the defensive backfield.

Though Samuel was annointed the team's left cornerback when he signed with Philadelphia on the first day of free agency, the pair often split first-team reps during the mini-camp. In fact, Sheppard even rotated in with Sheldon Brown at right corner.

CBs Lito Sheppard and Asante Samuel

And Sheppard seems to have found a bond with Samuel, both of whom hail from Florida.

"I've got no beef with Asante. We're from the same part of the United States. So there's a common bond in that," Sheppard said. "He's a good player, and whenever you get a chance to watch another good player at your position you definitely can learn some things. I'm all about improving, so I think with us watching each other you only can get better from that. Competition is what brings the best out of everybody.

"As a player, you get along with all your teammates and friends. You're all out there for a common goal. You just want to work on one accord and get better and make each other better."

Head coach Andy Reid said he liked what he saw from his cornerback trio.

"They hung together and they worked hard and had a great attitude," Reid said in his final mini-camp press conference.

While defensive coordinator Jim Johnson says the team might make use of three corners as much as 60 to 70 percent of the time, Reid noted that it really depends on the opponent.

"If you're playing the Colts, the whole game you're going to be doing that. The Patriots, you'll be doing that the majority of the game. It's just week to week on who you're playing," Reid said. "Other teams give you a little more double-tight and two backs in the backfield and a tight end in the game.

"I think it's important to have three corners who can play."

Sheppard said how Johnson and the defensive coaches design a scheme to get all three cornerbacks on the field is "not for me to worry about."

"I don't have any expectations. I just play football."

That's how Sheppard approached this camp. It was a chance to get better in advance of the 2008 season.

"I feel good. I definitely needed to work out, knock some rust off. That's the way I took it," he said. "I don't think anything is different as far as the way the locker room treated me or the way I treated the locker room. I've pretty much been myself.

"I wasn't expecting anything. I'm just rolling with the flow."