Longtime Eagles offensive lineman Jon Runyan was back in town Thursday working out for head coach Andy Reid, offensive line coach Juan Castillo and general manager Tom Heckert at the NovaCare Complex.

Reid said that the Eagles wanted to see where Runyan was physically in his rehabilitation. Runyan underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee shortly after last season and was not re-signed by the Eagles when he became a free agent this off-season. He spent nine seasons with the Eagles and never missed a game, garnering him the nickname The Iron Man. He has started 192 straight regular-season games, the longest active streak among offensive linemen.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Runyan’s former line mate Shawn Andrews, who did not practice yet again on Thursday. He was on the field, but was in shorts as the rest of the offensive line went through drills. Andrews has been bothered by a sore lower back for much of the pre-season, missing all four pre-season games, as well as training camp.

One possible explanation for Andrews’ apparent setback is too much time spent in the chair in his basement recording studio getting his Michael Phelps on. For more on this, see the video below.

Runyan’s workout coinciding with Andrews’ being out of practice cannot be pure coincidence. Don’t be surprised to see Runyan line up against Julius Peppers and the Carolina Panthers defense on Sunday.