Eagles Notebook: First sack, first injury for Eagles' rookie Graham

Brandon Graham was running down a screen (didn't Tom Petty sing about that?) when he landed funny, hitting the ground just under his shoulder and above the back of his ribcage.

"It spasmed all my muscles up here," he said, pointing to his upper back and shoulder.

Until that moment, in the second half of the Eagles' 35-32 victory at Detroit, it had been a great homecoming for Graham, the Eagles' first-round rookie defensive end. He had notched his first NFL sack early in the game, with friends and family watching.

"I stayed in [the game] because I thought I was going to be able to fight it off, but after a while I was like, 'I don't want to hurt my team' . . . I couldn't shoot my arms," he said.

Graham, who is playing inside a lot as a rushing tackle, said it was great to get on the stat sheet.

"A lot of people don't even get a sack their rookie year," he said. "My family was there; everybody saw it up close. That was a great moment for me."

Graham said he has little experience with injuries, and initally feared he had really messed up his shoulder. He was relieved to find out he hadn't, but the spasms still made for a sleepless night.

"It was like a big old lump pressing on my ribs," he said.

Graham was a limited practice participant yesterday and is expected to play Sunday at Jacksonville.

Newest Eagle Joique Bell, the running back the Eagles signed off the Bills' practice squad, said he has been told he's here to be "a utility player on special teams - throw me around."

Bell had a strong preseason for Buffalo, which has a surplus of running backs.

"It's going to take time," to learn a new offense, he agreed, "but you get adjusted to it. That's one thing about being an NFL player; you have to learn quickly."

Bell was a standout at Wayne State in Detroit and once worked as a security guard at Ford Field, where the Eagles played Sunday.

Fullback Leonard Weaver was tweeting optimistically yesterday after undergoing knee surgery in Birmingham, Ala., by Dr. James Andrews. The Eagles said Andrews repaired a "torn ACL and torn posterior lateral corner in his left knee." Andy Reid said Andrews found "a little bit of nerve damage in there, so we'll just have to see how that all works out."

Weaver's leg was bent backward when he was tackled on his only carry in the season opener against Green Bay. He is on injured reserve and won't play again this season.

The Eagles added wide receiver Rod Harper and safety Jamar Adams to their practice squad . . . Hank Baskett signed quickly with the Vikings, practicing with them yesterday . . . Former Eagles defensive backs Quintin Demps and Macho Harris worked out for the Lions . . . DeSean Jackson said he saw Michael Vick "put in a lot of hard work. He wanted to prove to a lot of people what he did was a mistake, and he wanted to show everybody he's still the same guy [he was before going to prison]. As you can see, once you put him back in the limelight, his instincts started coming back to him. One thing I'll say you never lose is football instincts."