Eagles' middle linebacker Bradley returns

IT WAS 2 DAYS short of 9 full months since Stewart Bradley had last lined up in the middle of the Eagles' defense. Bradley still remembered where to go, even though so much around him had changed.

"Just to have my jersey on, walking out, to be on the grass was a good feeling. A bunch of smiles for me out there today," said Bradley, the Eagles' middle linebacker. His torn right ACL, suffered during the Eagles' Flight Night scrimmage at Lincoln Financial Field, turned out to be a blow that lingered for a defense that couldn't make the stops when it had to make them.

Just as quarterback Kevin Kolb is officially taking the reins of the offense in this first minicamp of 2010, Bradley is the focal point of the young defense.

"It's a reality - there's been a turnover of guys who have been here for a long time who are no longer here," Bradley said. "I think there's enough core players who were with that transition to sort of bridge that gap. I don't think we're starting with a complete new set of guys. Most of the [projected defensive starters] have been here for a couple of years, have played in playoff games, have won playoff games . . . We have nine new [defensive] draft picks, but we have a lot of guys still coming back."

Bradley said that in yesterday's workout, "I thought we had a lot of energy. Guys were flying around, it's a good atmosphere, it's competitive. I think the front office does a good job of bringing guys in who are in that same mold, love to play football, hard-working guys who are talented kids, and we kind of roll 'em in seamlessly with the rest of the group."

Kolb said: "I really think it means a lot" for the defense to get Bradley back. "A lot of guys really missed him last year when he went out. He is one of our defensive leaders; he's just so articulate and smart out there, not a whole lot gets past him. You need as many guys like that on the field as you can get."

Eagles coach Andy Reid said he thought Bradley "moved around pretty good."

"He's been here all offseason, so I got a chance to see him run around a little bit. I liked what I've seen up to this point, and I liked what I saw today in practice."

Reid noted that Bradley "had the other leg done before," tearing his left ACL in 2005, at Nebraska.

"So he kind of knows what to expect," Reid said. "That first one, you're a little bit hesitant and you don't rehab quite as hard . . . After that second surgery, you attack the thing and you get after it. Normally that rehab happens a little bit quicker as long as it's on a different leg, not like [tight end] Cornelius [Ingram, who ripped a repaired ACL in training camp]. What we'll do is we'll monitor him. He's been doing very well, feels very good, very strong in all of his tests. We'll keep an eye on him and make sure that he doesn't overload that leg."

Indeed, Bradley isn't terribly worried about his knee.

"I wasn't really even thinking about it [on the field]," Bradley said. "I was just trying to make plays. Some of the new wrinkles we have this year with the defense, a couple things have changed, so I was just trying to get up to speed with those, making checks, bringing some of the new guys we have out there along. I really didn't think about the knee at all."

Bradley won't be 27 until November, but he suddenly is a veteran on a defense that right now features only one over-30 starter, defensive end Juqua Parker (who will have to hold off first-round rookie Brandon Graham). Parker turns 32 in a few weeks.

"The years go by fast. Seems like yesterday I got drafted, and now I'm going into my fourth year. It's a reality that as the years go by, you're just one of the older guys," Bradley said. "Definitely, that's a role that everyone needs to step up and relish, me included."

Yesterday, newcomer Ernie Sims, acquired in a trade with Detroit, was the starter on the weakside. Incumbent Moise Fokou, beefed up to 238 pounds he said, flanked Bradley on the strong side. Alex Hall, the 3-4 linebacker the Eagles acquired from Cleveland for Chris Gocong, was a defensive end, something Reid said would maximize his pass-rush abilities.

"I think it comes down to just taking reps with each other," Bradley said. "The more you're out there, the more you communicate with each other, the easier and more natural that stuff becomes. As we spend more time with each other, that stuff will smooth itself out."

Kevin Kolb said his first workout as the starting quarterback "was very good. I thought the tempo was great; it was just fluid throughout the day, and that was what we want to do."

"There is a lot of energy, more than I remember in the past," Kolb said as the Eagles tried to assimilate their largest draft class (13 players) since 1986. "I think the biggest key right now is to kind of settle us down a little bit and make sure we're out there just playing our game and not getting too caught up in it."

Kolb said "everything's different" when you take the field as the starter; you lead every drill.

Andy Reid said it was "good to see the young guys move around like they did . . . So far, I like what I see" . . . Reid said second-round rookie safety Nate Allen is being held out of these workouts while a quad he injured in predraft testing heals . . . Fourth-round rookie quarterback Mike Kafka inherited the first locker on the left after you enter the locker room, formerly belonging to some guy from Syracuse. Kafka did not know this until a reporter told him; he vowed to check through all the drawers and cubbyholes, in case Donovan McNabb left behind anything valuable . . . Shawn Murphy, the offensive lineman the Eagles picked up off waivers from Tampa this week, didn't pass his physical and won't be joining the team. *

For more Eagles coverage and opinion, read the Daily News' Eagles blog, Eagletarian, at www.eagletarian.com.