"MORE AND MORE, it looks as if spring and much of summer, at least, will be sacrificed to the NFL lockout. The planning-for-business-as-usual stance the Eagles were taking a few months ago is giving way to a realization that this season will be very different, as work is missed that will never be made up.

"The further it goes in [to preparation], the worse the product," Eagles coach Andy Reid said last night on Comcast SportsNet's "Daily News Live." Reid was appearing during a NovaCare practice for the 37th annual Philadelphia Eagles City All-Star Football Classic, scheduled for Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, with Birds defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and special-teams coordinator Bobby April serving as honorary coaches.

"No matter how you cut this thing, you need time, in practice," Reid said. "You're bringing in guys who are working hard in the offseason on their own, but that's not like working hard in training camp [in concert with other players].

"It's a great challenge for coaches, because we take a lot of pride in being good teachers. I've asked the coaches to go back and make sure they refine everything . . . [Instruction has] got to come out, and it's got to be direct, specific, the players have to be able to visualize it."

Castillo, ever optimistic, minimized the effect of the missed time.

"Football is football," Castillo said, when asked how likely it is that rookies drafted last month will be able to contribute substantially this season. "You're responsible for a gap, whether it's at Oregon, whether it's at Connecticut, whether it's at Ohio State or whether it's Philadelphia. Football is really not a complex game. You're a MIKE linebacker, you've got the A gap or you've got the B gap."

Maybe it will help that part of Castillo's mission in replacing Sean McDermott has been to simplify the defense.

But as April pointed out, minicamps being missed, the training camp that is threatened - the NFL has never acted as if these were anything other than essential."