Baptism of fire for Eagles' seventh-round rookies Chaney, Coleman

MIDDLE LINEBACKER and free safety are two critical positions in the Eagles' defense; in both cases, the guy occupying that spot carries responsibilities that extend beyond his own play.

So is it a problem that the starting middle linebacker and the starting free safety for this Sunday's wild-card playoff game against Green Bay are seventh-round rookies? And that one of them will not just be making his playoff debut, but his third overall NFL start?

One of the few pieces of good news that seemed to come out of last Sunday's regular-season-ending loss to the Dallas Cowboys was middle linebacker Stew Bradley's assertion that he thought he would be able to play this week. But the next day, Eagles coach Andy Reid gently suggested that Bradley was being unrealistic, Reid noting that Bradley had little strength in his healing elbow. Reid said it was going to be "a stretch" for Bradley to play. Bradley has not practiced this week. Everyone involved now seems to assume rookie Jamar Chaney will again take Bradley's place.

Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott insisted his unit will be just fine with Chaney in the middle and fellow seventh-round rookie Kurt Coleman, who is more experienced, at free safety, in place of second-round rookie and knee-injury victim Nate Allen.

"He was the first one here Monday morning," McDermott said of Chaney. "He was gung-ho, getting ready to play, whether he was going to be the starter or not, based on Stewart's health."

McDermott wasn't ready to concede yesterday that Bradley won't play, but he said of Chaney, "the menu will be full in terms of what we ask him to do; he's a good football player."

McDermott knows better than anyone the struggles of his defense - last in the league in the red zone, franchise-record 31 touchdown passes against - but he was in the business of selling hope yesterday, against the NFC's hottest passer, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers.

"I'm extremely proud of what this defense has accomplished, so let's not be mistaken," McDermott said, when asked if his young group is "playoff ready."

"There are a lot of defenses out there that are sitting home right now," McDermott said, carefully steering around the fact that the Eagles are in the postseason courtesy of their second-ranked offense. "This is a resilient bunch. They give great effort every week. I know we've given up some points and I know there's work to be done, but at the same time, we've generated turnovers. And look, we're the 12th-rated defense in [the NFL, which ranks strictly on yardage], so there's 20 defenses behind us right now that wish they were in our position."

Chaney made 16 tackles in his debut as a starter, the comeback win over the Giants Dec. 19. He also forced a fumble. His second start, Dec. 28 against the Vikings, was not as successful, though Chaney wound up with seven tackles.

"He finds the football in the run game," McDermott said. "I think that's the key. You can't teach some of that, the instincts that he has, in terms of navigating blocks, finding the ball. With that, he needs to gain experience. There are things that happen maybe before the ball is even snapped. Or, lining up the defense. All those things that come through experience, those are the things that we just keep trying to expose him to."

Chaney agreed. "I'd say the presnap is probably the hardest [thing to pick up], making all the checks and what not. You prepare through the week, all that stuff will be easy on game day," he said. "I think we do a good job of making the practice tempo a lot faster than the game tempo; you have to make the calls a lot faster."

McDermott said he considered playing Chaney against the Cowboys for that reason, "but with Stewart's situation, we wanted to be smart." In other words, the Birds couldn't lose another middle linebacker. This would further cast doubt on the idea that the team ever thought Bradley would be back this week.

Coleman, meanwhile, has started only twice, as well, but he has played more in the defense than Chaney, who strictly played special teams until a few weeks ago.

"I feel like it's just like any other game. It's more magnified, everything is more at stake. I feel confident out there," Coleman said. He noted that he has 15 games under his belt, sitting out only the Dallas game.

"As a rookie, you don't want to play like a rookie now. You've got to play like a vet; it's been too long to play like rookies."

Coleman also noted that he has the Eagles' most experienced defender, 8-year veteran safety Quintin Mikell, beside him, to take a lot of the burden of making calls and recognizing formations.

Unlike Coleman, Chaney can't really say he has the whole season behind him.

"He's got a couple of games under his belt; he's done pretty well in them," strongside starter Moise Fokou said. "It's a difference, when you're watching it from the sideline, and when you're actually in the action. Everything happens a little bit faster. I think he's calmed that down, after starting a couple of times, gotten into the routine of it. What he's going to realize in the playoffs is that everything gets a little more faster. It's going to be interesting, how he takes that on. But I think with the hard preparation he's been doing this week, he should be all right."

One might think Rodgers will try to take advantage of Chaney's inexperience. Fokou said that would be harder to do than you might think - play-action is mainly a concern on first or second down, when Chaney will have his other linebackers to warn him, and QBs don't really look off linebackers that much, Fokou said, the way they do corners and safeties, because a linebacker is generally responsible for a zone, rather than a man.

"He has very good instincts. I believe in his instincts," Fokou said.

Send e-mail to bowenl@phillynews.com