Eagles Notes | Bloom is main man now in Birds' return game

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - When the Eagles released receiver-returner

Bethel Johnson

in June and did not replace him with another veteran returner, it was an unofficial commitment to

Jeremy Bloom

.

"I always pictured myself being [the returner] and focused on being there regardless of who was here," Bloom said. "It's the NFL - you have competition everywhere. If they're not here, they could be here tomorrow."

The 25-year-old Bloom is the Eagles' primary option at both punt returner and kick returner at training camp.

He spent last season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. The year off actually benefited Bloom, because he had been out of football for two seasons due to his involvement with the U.S. ski team. Bloom needed time to adjust from a skiing body to a football body.

He had two kickoff returns for a combined 45 yards in one preseason appearance last year.

"We didn't get to see Jeremy a lot last year," special-teams coordinator Rory Segrest said. "We got to see him early in the season, and he was coming in after skiing for a while, so he's obviously had a little more time to work on things here and he's looking real solid right now."

The return game has received more attention this off-season after the Chicago Bears' Devin Hester scored five return touchdowns in the regular season and opened Super Bowl XLI with a kickoff return TD.

The Eagles can use a similar boost. They haven't had a return touchdown since Brian Westbrook returned two punts for touchdowns in 2003.

"We're just trying to create some explosive plays, especially in our return game," Segrest said. "I think seeing Devin create some opportunities, score some points, it's just showing a lot of the world that it can be done with special teams."

Jeremiah Trotter

is seldom short on confidence. But as the Eagles linebacker sat in front of a tent of reporters at a news conference yesterday, he showed humility.

"I knew last year I didn't put in the work," Trotter said. "That's not like me, but I was coming off of a big season that year and I was trying to rest my body, but I just rested too much."

Trotter's tackles were down last season, he recorded no sacks for the first time since 2002, and his weight was up. He said he dropped 12 to 13 pounds during the off-season, shedding body fat and adding muscle.

Trotter's reason for the rest in the 2006 off-season was that the Pro Bowl and surgery shortened the time he had to train.

After four days of practice this season, he can feel the difference.

"It's like night and day," Trotter said. "I'm having fun out there, I can celebrate, I can keep the guys fired up. When you're tired, you can't say anything."

The bridge collapse in Minnesota hit close to home for Eagles fullback

Thomas Tapeh

.

Tapeh is a native of St. Paul and attended the University of Minnesota, which is near the I-35W bridge that collapsed. He said he drove on the bridge "every day" while in college.

"I got a lot of calls and texts from friends and family," Tapeh said Thursday. "I was stunned. When they told me the bridge fell down, I said, 'Which bridge?' They said I-35. I said, 'Oh, man, that's the Mississippi."

The Eagles had their largest crowd of the 2007 training camp yesterday. There was a combined crowd of 20,895 between the two practices. The record is an estimated 25,000 fans on Aug. 6, 2004.