Schwartz, Bradham agree packing heat was a stupid move

NIGEL BRADHAM is 6-2, 241, an imposing, very well-proportioned, heavily tattooed man. So it was with some trepidation that a reporter approached Thursday to relay what defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had said during his weekly news conference.

Schwartz was asked about the arrest of his starting strongside linebacker Sunday at Miami International Airport with a loaded gun in his backpack. Bradham was attempting to return to Philadelphia from the bye.

"The worst thing I've ever forgotten (and left in a bag) at the airport, I think, has been a razor or a belt or something like that. I'm the guy in line that, if that person five people ahead has a bottle of water in their luggage, I'm throwing my hands up, like, 'Seriously? Do you ever travel? Do you know that you can't take water in?' " Schwartz said.

"This takes it to a different level, and I think the most disappointing thing for me is it takes away from the Nigel that we see every day, a good teammate, a hard worker, a trustworthy player on the field, but hey, facts are facts. You do dumb-ass things, pretty soon you're going to be labeled a dumb ass, and he's got a lot of ground to make up, because it's not just him, it's the rest of us, also. It's everybody that wears that helmet, all the people in the organization . . . He represents everybody . . . He's got to earn some trust back."

Sooo, Nigel, it seems Jim said - and this is Jim talking here, you understand - that if you do, um, "dumb-ass" things, you're going to be labeled, a, uh, well, "dumb ass." How do you feel about that?

"Right. Right. It's as simple as that," Bradham said, agreeing with the sentiment. "I heard it first," when Bradham spoke with Schwartz on Monday, he said.

"That's pretty much what I was saying" to reporters Wednesday, when Bradham talked about taking responsbility.

Eagles safety and national anthem protest leader Malcolm Jenkins was asked Thursday about a Bleacher Report story headlined "Donald Trump is Tearing the NFL Apart." Writer Michael Freeman said an informal poll of NFL players showed 21 of 21 white players intending to vote for Trump and 20 of 22 black players intending to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Jenkins didn't seem to subscribe to the article's thesis that political divisions were causing huge problems within teams, but he said the racial voting numbers sounded about right to him. Unfortunately, Jenkins spoke just as the locker room was about to close, and it was impossible to verify his view.

"Donald Trump is a divisive name in the locker room," Jenkins said. "A lot of guys will talk politics, but usually not about Trump. Those might get a little heated, depending on who you're talking to."

But that bit about 21 of 21 white players favoring Trump?

"If it's not 100, it'd probably be 90 percent in this locker room," Jenkins said. "There's some hardcore Trump fans in this locker room. Which is fine."

Jenkins said he didn't think this support had that much to do with overt racism or misogyny.

"Usually in this locker room, everybody's in the top tax bracket. The Republican Party is usually nice on their pocket," Jenkins said. "Personally, the rest of my family's not in this tax bracket."

But guys who have played most of their lives alongside players of other races, who know the stories of some of their teammates' impoverished backgrounds, will ignore Trump's rhetoric for economic reasons?

"At the end of the day, empathy is something that America lacks right now," Jenkins said. "If I were to bring up the reasons that I didn't like Trump - he says some borderline racist things, says crazy things about women . . . the (responding) argument is probably going to be some way to justify it, as opposed to understanding the impact that has on a minority, or person of color."

Defensive tackle Bennie Logan was limited with a calf strain Thursday, a new addition to the injury report, which listed everyone else as full-go . . . The picture is quite different for the Lions, who listed among those unable to practice Thursday top pass rusher Ezekiel Ansah (ankle), tight end Eric Ebron (ankle, knee) and linebacker DeAndre Levy (knee, quadriceps). ESPN has reported that Ebron is unlikely to play against the Eagles.

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog