Rehabbing Duce Staley enjoying the Eagles' surge.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

PHILADELPHIA _ Out of the spotlight, on a road nothing like the one his teammates are traveling, Duce Staley is watching. And smiling. Reveling, even.

Though he has been away, the victim of a rare foot injury, Staley is not sulking. He is still a member of the Eagles and still takes pride in the team's development without him.

In his first interview since late October, the Eagles' star running back said doctors had told him his surgically repaired right foot was healing ahead of schedule. He also discussed the Eagles' stellar season and new running back Chris Warren's progress, and provided more insight on his recovery.

"It's a great feeling," Staley said of watching the Eagles, who are two victories from a Super Bowl appearance after going through 3-13 and 5-11 seasons. "You have to understand they went through the whole training camp, too. They were out there working hard, trying to get better. And we're still a team.

"I still feel like I'm going to be part of this team, and they showed me that when they embraced me with the love they showed me when I came back.

"It's a great feeling for me to see them out there having fun, to see them still making plays, still high-fiving during this time of the year," Staley said. "If you don't make it to the playoffs, you don't have anything to look forward to, besides going to watch somebody else play in the Super Bowl."

Staley spent much of the last month at home in Columbia, S.C., enjoying the holidays with his family and focusing on healing. He was injured during Week 5, late in the game against the Atlanta Falcons. Ten days later, he learned he was out for the season after undergoing surgery on his right foot, which had a Lisfranc sprain, a rare injury named for a surgeon in Napoleon's army.