LESS BUNK, FIGURATIVELY

THE SIGNING of free-agent defensive tackle Montae Reagor probably will help the Eagles' pass rush, but everybody knows run-stopping is the defense's most critical issue. The Birds ranked 26th in the league there last season, and they gave up a lethal 208 rushing yards in their playoff loss to New Orleans.

The key to keeping opponents from gobbling up the clock the way they did too often last fall won't be found in free agency, but in the NovaCare workout room, where Brodrick Bunkley hefted weights yesterday for the benefit of TV cameras. Younger Eagles - mostly last year's rookies - started the team's offseason workout program this week. Veterans begin participation in April.

Bunkley, as most Eagles fans know all too well, is the defensive tackle the Birds drafted 14th overall last April, using their highest selection since they took Corey Simon sixth in 2000. Projections were that Bunkley could contribute significantly right away, in a four-tackle rotation.

"We wanted a guy to push the pile more," defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said after the draft. "This guy is one of the strongest tackles. He's a good-sized guy. A good-effort guy. We think he's going to give us some help right away as far as being in that rotation."

But starting with minicamp in May, Bunkley struggled with the transition to a pro-style defense. Then he missed the first 16 days of training camp while his contract was being negotiated, and conditioning became an issue. Still, Bunkley started the season getting a decent number of snaps, and he recorded three solo tackles in the season opener.

That was to be the high point of a lost year; Bunkley pretty much disappeared after four games. On an undermanned, undersized defensive line, his inability to win playing time raised alarms. The low point came when Bunkley missed the team charter to Indianapolis and was held out of the most onesided loss of the season.

"It was a learning experience. I did some boneheaded things," Bunkley, 6-2, 306 pounds, said yesterday. "I kept my head up, I had a lot of talks with family and things in the offseason. I had a good talk with coach [Andy] Reid before I left. You know, it's a new season. It's time to get things rolling. I'm coming in with a positive attitude . . . I'm just putting more effort forth. I can recall times when I would joke around too much, and things like that, but I'm coming in with a positive attitude, man, and I'm going to do everything possible to better myself on the field, better myself with the staff here."

Bunkley was asked about the perception that at Florida State, he manhandled opponents because of his superior strength, with little attention to scheme or technique - and that he found himself stymied when confronted with bigger NFL offensive linemen and more complex blocking schemes.

"That's accurate, that's very accurate," Bunkley said. "At this level, everyone's strong. You're going against guys 345, 360, double-teams. The schemes that people play, a lot of guys don't even base-block [man-on-man, as opposed to zone blocking] a lot, which is what you saw in college. This game here is based on technique. I noticed that last year. That's one of the things I wanted to work on when I came into the league. We're going to fine-tune things here in the offseason, try to get things rolling. I've been talking to [defensive line coach Pete Jenkins] a lot."

There's no getting around the fact that getting glued to the bench was extremely embarrassing for such a highly touted prospect - before the draft, after Bunkley bench-pressed 225 pounds 44 times and ran a 4.97 40 at the scouting combine, speculation held that the Eagles might have to move up from 14th into the top 10 to get a shot at him. He was taken two slots after Oregon defensive Haloti Ngata, who started all 16 games for the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie. Even more galling to Bunkley was that his first-round Florida State teammates, linebacker Ernie Sims, of Detroit (drafted ninth overall), and linebacker Kamerion Wimbley, of Cleveland (13th overall), emerged as NFL starters. Wimbley even notched 11 sacks.

"You're a first-round draft pick. It's tough watching your buddies . . . watching all those guys, wishing you were in the same position. Unfortunately, I wasn't," Bunkley said. "That just gives me more motivation coming into the season."

Bunkley knows that right now, his assumed improvement is just about the only reason to think the Eagles can be better at stopping the run in 2007 than they were in 2006.

"It puts a lot of pressure on my shoulders, and forces me to get in the mind-set - enough of the playing around, enough of the rookie jitters," Bunkley said. "It's time to get out and do the thing, and work well with my teammates." *