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Eagles' Bradham knows he won't go to jail, doesn't know he won't be suspended

The legal hurdles are mostly cleared for Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham, but the NFL has yet to weigh in on a pair of 2016 incidents.

Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham is awaiting word on whether the NFL will suspend him for brushes with the law in 2016.
Eagles linebacker Nigel Bradham is awaiting word on whether the NFL will suspend him for brushes with the law in 2016.Read moreCLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

Nigel Bradham said he had a good offseason.

"I stayed out of trouble," Bradham said.

Bradham said it's a relief to know he isn't facing jail time, after earlier this month accepting a deferred prosecution deal on a felony assault charge in Miami. That charge arose from a confrontation with a hotel employee just before training camp a year ago, in which Bradham broke the other man's nose. His plea means that if he avoids further trouble, he will not be incarcerated.

Bradham still faces a Sept. 18 hearing on a misdemeanor weapons charge, also in Miami, from when he left a gun in his carry-on backpack and inadvertently tried to check it through airport security. But that isn't as big a deal.

Bradham said he hasn't heard anything about the NFL's investigation of these matters, which could result in a suspension of one to six games, based on precedent. The league does not generally act quickly.

"You never know. It could be this year, it could be next year," Bradham said Thursday, after the Eagles' first full-squad workout of training camp.

Bradham, 27, emerged as a key player on the Eagles' defense last season, his first with the team. He was a three-down linebacker who finished third on the squad in tackles, with 99, and started all 16 games. The Eagles are not considered deep at linebacker. A Bradham suspension would be a major blow.

Forging a deep connection

Carson Wentz said Thursday that having a receiver like Alshon Jeffery "really makes a quarterback throw a lot more confident."

This was demonstrated during practice, when Wentz flung a bomb down the right sideline, and Jeffery, despite tight coverage, went up and got it. This was the sort of thing Eagles fans didn't see nearly enough of last season.

"He's very soft-spoken, but he's a quiet competitor," Wentz said, when asked what he has learned about his most heralded new weapon during spring work and the bonding exercise earlier this month in North Dakota. "He gets ticked off when he doesn't make the play. I kind of knew all those things going into it; what I've liked is just getting to know him on the field. Getting used to the way he gets in and out of breaks, the way he can go up and get a ball. It's been pretty cool getting to know him."

Jeffery said: "I just tell him, 'throw it somewhere close and give me a chance.' If it's anywhere close, I think I have a good opportunity."

Wentz was asked about how having Jeffery might change the look of the offense from last season, when, with Zach Ertz and Jordan Matthews as his top targets, the passing game tended to focus on the middle of the field.

"I think it opens it up," he said. "Having Torrey [Smith] and Alshon out there [on the outside] can kind of change that dynamic a little bit."

Wentz said the addition of running back LeGarrette Blount will force teams to pay more attention to the run, creating more opportunities on the perimeter.

Overall, the first practice was "like the first day of school again," Wentz said. "Everybody's excited to get back."

Birdseed

Linebacker Steven Daniels, claimed on waivers this offseason by the Eagles, released June 1, and then brought back this week, said he got no explanation for the change of heart. Daniels, a 2016 Redskins seventh-round pick, said all his conversations with coaches were positive before the release. In any event, he's back now … Asked whether running back LeGarrette Blount showed up at the desired weight, Doug Pederson said: "You know what, I'm not going to get into player weights and discuss that in public."