After patiently waiting for 17 weeks, Bobby McCray is set to play his first game of the 2010 season (albeit in 2011). After getting released by the New Orleans Saints during the final roster cutdown, McCray, 29, spent most of the season back home in Florida working out and staying in shape, hoping for a call. He got that call from the Eagles last Wednesday and a day later was a part of a team heading to the playoffs.

"It's definitely been tough," McCray said of playing the waiting game all season long. "But the main thing is you have to keep your head up as a professional. You know what you're good at and I'm good at my craft, so it was just a matter of time and ... I'm very appreciative of Philadelphia for giving me the opportunity to play. I'm just going to come in and do my best."

McCray is one of five Eagles who could play their first game of the season against the Cowboys, along with quarterback Mike Kafka, cornerback Brandon Hughes, safety Jamar Adams and cornerback/returner Gerard Lawson. In fact, it would be the first NFL regular season game for Kafka and Hughes.

As for McCray, he knows that he needs to show something early for the Eagles. After all, he's replacing Derrick Burgess, who himself was released after only his first game with the team. McCray's calling card is pressure on the quarterback, as he has a 10.0 sack season to his credit (in 2006). In a constant search to get to the quarterback with only a four-man rush, the Eagles can make use of McCray's fresh legs.

"As a professional, you have to be used to be thrown into different predicaments," McCray said. "I've been able to withstand all different kinds of things throughout my career, so it's just going out there and playing football. Even if you're not doing exactly the right thing, just go out there and go 100 miles an hour, try to make a play and fly to the ball and it will work out for the best.

"The opportunity that I do get, I just have to make the best of it."

-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 1:55 p.m., January 2