Eagles, not Elis, want Mroz now

A lot is made of the NFL Draft - TV coverage started the day after the Super Bowl, and Mel Kiper has had his four-round mock drafts up for some time.

But for hundreds of players like undrafted free agent and former Yale quarterback Jeff Mroz, the year after the draft determines their future.

A free-agent signee in Dallas, Mroz has since signed with the Philadelphia Eagles (he signed right after the playoffs), and will work this summer in Philadelphia to earn his roster spot.

Mroz didn't hang around with the Cowboys past training camp, but he learned a lot about the NFL in those months and during his many tryouts that eventually led him to the Eagles.

"The NFL is a lot more involved and a lot more complex than in college, there's a very steep learning curve," Mroz said. "But I think I've been able to learn pretty well and pretty quickly."

It's especially difficult when going from team-to-team trying to learn a new system on the fly. But his ability to pick up the playbook has helped the second-year man so far.

"Dallas is a completely different offense than Philadelphia, but for the most part they call similar plays just in a different way, and just understanding the concepts in the NFL is just a great base to build on," Mroz said. After that "it's just like learning a new language."

But learning a new dialect is a small portion of the challenge of an NFL quarterback, and it's not even the worst.

But with the Eagles and Cowboys, Mroz has gotten to learn the tricks of the trade from some great signal callers.

"I've been pretty fortunate to learn from some good quarterbacks in Drew Bledsoe and Tony Romo down in Dallas, and up here with Donovan [McNabb] and A.J. [Feeley]," Mroz said. "I've been able to watch and see how they go about things."

What's also helped Mroz along in the process is to continually ask the veterans what to do and how he can improve.

"I've definitely tried to pick Donovan's brain a lot, and he's been very helpful to me," he said. "He knows what it's like to be a young quarterback, and he's just helping me know what to expect and what's going on out there. . Hopefully I'm not annoying these guys, but it's definitely a great learning tool for me to ask."

And while he is getting better, the road in front of the former Ivy gunslinger is a particularly steep one. The Eagles traded for Bills veteran Kelly Holcomb - who threw for 429 yards and three touchdowns for the Browns in a playoff loss to Pittsburgh - and also resigned Feeley, who took the Eagles to a 4-1 record as a starter in 2002.

So the backup slot behind McNabb will be hotly contested, and it will be very tough for Mroz to get the third and final spot.

But perhaps making the practice squad is a big enough accomplishment for the man who only started one season (2,484 yards, 22 TD, 14 INT) for an Ivy team.

Right now, Mroz is just worrying about himself.

"I can't control who's here, who's not here, the only thing I can control is my effort every day on the field. . I'm just doing the best that I can, and hopefully it's good enough."

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