Tapp gets familiar with Eagles' D

The Eagles acquired defensive end Darryl Tapp from the Seahawks in the offseason and then proceeded to focus pretty much their entire draft on the pass rush.

Tapp is one of the select veterans participating in this week's OTAs. He's learning the system and trying to figure out what role he'll play, given the dramatic turnover of personnel on defense.

I caught up with him for a short Q&A yesterday:

How have you been picking things up? What are the differences from Seattle?

Tapp: This team's different from what we had last year in Seattle, but as far as the things they're asking me to do, I've been exposed to it at some point in my four-year career so I'm just getting the terminology and [learning] how I'm supposed to do things the right way.

Is practice different?

Tapp: It's similar, because of the tempo. The tempo is always high. We try to get a lot accomplished, get perfect reps and just continue to work.

Do you have a sense of what your role is going to be?

A: Not yet. Me, personally, I'm out here working, just trying to understand the defense, what they're trying to ask me to do, and then just let the chips fall where they may.

What's different about rushing the passer from the end position on first and second downs, compared to rushing inside on third downs?

A: I really can't tell you right now as far as with this defense, but in general, on third down, you know that it's gonna be a pass. You get those guys in situations on first and second downs where they gotta throw on third down. On first and second down, you get a lot more play-action.

Other practice notes:

* During 7-on-7s, at first glance, it looked like Kevin Kolb was off-target with his throw to rookie tight end Clay Harbor. Kolb was looking for him over the middle, down the field, but the ball hit the ground to the left of Harbor towards the near sideline. Immediately after the play, Andy Reid looked at one of his other tight ends, Martin Rucker, and said "Don't stop running." In other words, the incompletion was on Harbor, not Kolb.

* At the end of practice, when the team broke off into sections for special teams, Brandon Graham led the pack of players running over to the second field. Just a minor observation, but good to see the rookie hustling even when most of the guys were tired.

* Sometimes, football at the NFL level is simpler than we think. Ever thrown a football through a hanging tire? At the end of practice, Kevin Kolb, Michael Vick, Mike Kafka and Joey Elliott took turns throwing at three stationary targets below the field-goal crossbar. Three different heights - blue, white and red, from lowest to highest.

* It would appear that if he can stay healthy, Cornelius Ingram will be the clear No. 2 tight end behind Brent Celek.

* The video report yesterday focused on Tapp and rookie WR Riley Cooper.

* In case you missed it, I put up a quick post last night on new Eagles scout Daniel Jeremiah.

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