Quarterback and wide receiver aren’t the only positions where the Eagles are shorthanded for Week 1. With Nigel Bradham serving his one-game suspension, get ready for a heavy dose of Nathan Gerry and Kamu Grugier-Hill at linebacker versus the Falcons.
It will be linebacker by committee on either side of Jordan Hicks this Thursday night. Who knows — even D.J. Alexander and LaRoy Reynolds might take some snaps.
“We'll miss Nigel for this game,” Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said. “He's not going to be replaced by one person. I'll just say that.”
The Eagles have known about Bradham’s ban for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy since June, and were possibly preparing for bad news a lot longer. The discipline stems from an aggravated assault charge in July 2016, which concluded with the seventh-year veteran entering a deferred prosecution program.
Now Bradham’s teammates must make do without his presence on opening night, against a Falcons squad that won 24 games over the previous two seasons, including playoffs.
“It’s tough because Nigel brings so much to this team between just being a dog out there and his attitude, his excitement,” Hicks said. “Then also his ability to understand what the offense is trying to do. He and I have a really good ability to kind of dissect plays before they happen.
“The terminology between us is seamless, so there’s gonna be some adjustment there and we’re working through that now.”
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It’s not an altogether new circumstance for the Eagles defense, which was without Hicks for much of the 2017 campaign, even before he succumbed to season-ending Achilles injury in October. Bradham took over in the middle, while Mychal Kendricks stepped in at weakside linebacker.
Of course, Kendricks is gone — released in May, and currently dealing with legal woes of his own. The Eagles’ replacements in 2018 are Gerry and Grugier-Hill, neither of whom have much NFL experience.
“It’s a challenge for all of us,” Gerry said, “to be able to show our teammates that we can do it, that we’re accountable, that just like last year if someone goes down that it’s the next man up and we don’t lose a step.”
A fifth-round draft pick in ’17, Gerry played a grand total of 20 snaps on defense after beginning the year on the practice squad. Since signing as a rookie in September 2016, Grugier-Hill has amassed 86 snaps on defense for the Eagles. These two guys are almost as green as their jerseys.
Bradham did what he could to prepare his understudies for this moment, but nothing can change the fact Thursday will be the most meaningful action of Gerry’s and Gurgier-Hill’s pro careers.
“We talk to Nigel all the time,” Grugier-Hill said. “He’s helping us younger guys with things that helped him, keys, little things like that.
“For the most part, he did most of his part when he was here helping us get ready.”
Making matters worse is the Falcons’ brand of offense. Their reliance on running the football with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman and the use of two-back sets figures to force the Eagles into their base defense, deploying three linebackers simultaneously with much greater frequency than usual.
“Everyone kind of sleeps on the run game,” Grugier-Hill said. “Everyone talks about Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, but their run game is something serious.”
The Eagles will also be shorthanded at linebacker overall due to Bradham’s absence, carrying just five on the roster — assuming all are active.
Hicks discussed the group’s need to set the tone for the rest of the defense on Thursday, shorthanded or not.
“I think the linebacker position is a tone-setting position,” Hicks said. “We have to come out flying, be physical.
“We have to come downhill, we have to be physical at the point of attack and we have to stop the run.”
Whatever concern might exist outside the NovaCare Complex, Hicks and Schwartz both expressed confidence in the Eagles’ options against the Falcons.
“We’ve got the guys that we can do that,” Hicks said. “We’ve got talent at all spots, speed, athleticism, guys that understand the system, so we’ll be just fine.”