Philadelphia had much to celebrate in Sunday night’s 30-27 victory at Dallas, but there were somber notes to the NFC East-leading Eagles‘ victory. Rookie defensive end Brandon Graham, the team’s first-round draft choice, suffered a season-ending torn ACL. And middle linebacker Stewart Bradley is likely sidelined for at least the final three regular season games with a dislocated elbow.
“That’s a tough thing,” said Eagles coach Andy Reid. “He’s got a positive outlook on it. He just wants to get done what needs to get done and get the rehab going and get back. ACL, especially the first one, they are tough rehab. You don’t know what to expect. You have to put a lost of trust in the trainers and the doctor. … He’s a tough kid. He will work through it and he’ll be back. He’s disappointed but upbeat.”
Graham, the 13th pick overall, hasn’t been a force while sharing the left end spot with veteran Juqua Parker. The former Michigan star has three sacks, two forced fumbles and just 12 tackles.
“He’s actually done very well,” Reid said. “Yesterday, he had some big snaps for us.”
While Graham, who had returned to backup duty, is done for the year, the more serious loss for the stretch run is Bradley, who won’t go on injured reserve in case he’s able to return for the playoffs.
“We have to get a feel on how long this thing takes.” Reid said.
Reid liked how rookie Jamar Chaney, a seventh-rounder, fared after Bradley, who missed all of 2009 with a torn ACL, went down during the second quarter.
“He wasn’t shy with his calls,” said Reid, who seems to be leaning to going with Chaney instead of 2007 middle linebacker Omar Gaither while Bradley recuperates. “He was accurate. He played physical football. His challenge now is that people have him on film, he will need to get it up another notch. Jamar did a nice job. He has been playing well, but we have a lot of trust in Omar as well.”
Chaney was running on the field on the punt return team when he saw Bradley was injured.
“I saw him down and I said, ‘Oh Lord, here we go,’ ” Chaney said. “(But) I was ready. I prepare each week like I’m going to play. That’s the attitude you got to have. When you get your shot, you’ve got to make sure you go in there and do the job. Our linebackers coach, (Bill) Shuey, does a good job of keeping me prepared. We have extra meetings, day of the game, day before the game, just me and him. He makes sure we have the signals down. He does everything he can to make sure we are ready.”
Chaney, who led the Eagles with seven tackles at Dallas, impressed strong safety Quentin Mikell, the longest-tenured member of the defense.
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