Eagles Notes: Arrington passes physical, set to practice

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - J.J. Arrington cleared the first hurdle toward making the Eagles' 53-man roster when he passed a physical Saturday evening.

The veteran running back is expected to be at practice Sunday morning.

The 27-year-old Arrington was acquired Friday night when the Eagles dealt three-year linebacker Joe Mays to Denver. If he doesn't make the roster, the Eagles will receive a 2012 sixth-round draft pick instead.

There's ample reason to believe Arrington won't. He's a little more than a year removed from microfracture knee surgery, a procedure that has been known to end careers. Some running backs, however, have returned from the operation - namely, the Saints' Reggie Bush and Stephen Davis, formerly of the Carolina Panthers.

"He's a good runner," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "He's tough, he's elusive, and he's got good hands. He's a really good catcher."

Arrington's best season came as a rookie in 2005 with Arizona, when he ran for 370 yards and two touchdowns and caught 25 passes for 139 yards. He was more of a receiving option out of the backfield during his last two seasons with the Cardinals in 2007 and '08.

Arrington will compete with rookie Charles Scott and Eldra Buckley for the third running-back spot behind LeSean McCoy and Mike Bell.

The Eagles released running back Martell Mallett, a Canadian Football League product, later in the day. That move allowed the team to bring back linebacker Tracy White, a special-teams contributor with the Eagles the last two seasons.

The flurry of transactions didn't end there.

Earlier in the day, the Eagles signed wide receiver Kelley Washington, an eight-year veteran. He worked out for the Eagles on Thursday along with rookie receiver Jared Perry, who was signed later in the day.

As circumstance would have it, Washington's addition meant the end of Perry's brief stay as an Eagle.

Perry is on the smaller side and the Eagles already have two smaller receivers (starters DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin). The 6-foot-3, 217-pound Washington is more in the mold of rookie Riley Cooper (6-3, 222) and Hank Baskett (6-4, 220). The competition for the fifth receiver spot could come down to Washington and Baskett.

"He's a good special-teams player," Reid said of Washington. "Really, a couple of years ago he was one of the best in the league. He's a good inside receiver, physical, big, strong guy. You'll see him probably helping us more on the inside, as an inside receiver."

Maybe Kevin Kolb underestimated Stewart Bradley, since he's still coming back from knee surgery.

But when the Eagles quarterback dropped back on one of the first 11-on-11 drills of the day and fired a pass to Maclin, the middle linebacker came out of nowhere for the interception.

"You won't see Kevin do too many of those, he's pretty good at that," Reid said. "But Bradley, he was a sneaky one on that one."

Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of when Bradley tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. But on the first day of contact, he didn't show any residual signs. In fact, he didn't even wear any protection on his knee.

"I've been clear off my knee for so many months now that it doesn't even feel like an issue in my mind," Bradley said.

Just to be cautious, Reid gave Bradley the occasional break in the afternoon, bringing backup Omar Gaither up to the first team.

In the morning, Kolb connected with Jackson on two deep throws. One went for a touchdown, the other probably would have been a sack if rookie defensive end Brandon Graham hadn't pulled up. . . . Maclin made a leaping grab in the afternoon that drew applause. . . . Second-team safeties Kurt Coleman and Quintin Demps made acrobatic interceptions on Michael Vick throws in the afternoon. . . . Wide receiver Jordan Norwood suffered a hamstring strain.