With linebacker Marcus Smith hurt, Eagles may turn to Bryan Braman

JUST 2 1/2 WEEKS into training camp, the Eagles already have taken heavy casualties at the outside linebacker position.

It began on the second day of camp when Travis Long tore his left ACL for the second time in 12 months. Then, Brandon Hepburn suffered an abdominal injury and Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo injured his ankle. Both Hepburn and DeWalt-Ondijo were waived/injured.

Then, in yesterday morning's joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens, Marcus Smith, who was the front-runner for the No. 3 outside 'backer job behind starters Connor Barwin and Brandon Graham, was carted off the field at the NovaCare Complex with a right hamstring injury of undetermined severity.

Smith, the team's 2014 first-round pick, is scheduled to have an MRI today.

After missing most of the spring OTAs with a groin injury, Smith had been having a pretty good camp. The deer-in-headlights look that he wore for most of his rookie year was pretty much gone.

"He's way ahead of where he was," defensive coordinator Bill Davis said last week. "The biggest thing that changes from your rookie year, especially when you're a first-round draft pick, is that pressure mode. The pressure you're putting on yourself and that others are putting on you, kind of calms a little bit on you [the second year] where you actually have some coping skills where you can handle it and still function and play and put your focus on the football part.

"And I think Marcus has his focus on the football part and controlling what he can control. He's in a much better place. He's playing faster. He's reacting faster. He's seeing the field better. Those are all indications that he's really taking some big leaps forward."

And now he's out. For how long, no one's sure. Could be a couple of weeks, could be a month, could be longer. Hamstrings are like that.

"I'm getting my mind right for a lot of snaps this year," said Graham.

With Smith out, special teams ace Bryan Braman now is the third outside linebacker behind Graham and Connor. Braman played just nine defensive snaps for the Eagles last year and has played a total of 109 defensive snaps in four NFL seasons. He has half a sack.

"The coaches prepare you for this," Braman said. "Next man up. You've got to be prepared and ready to go. Make sure you're in your playbook and know what you're doing.

"All I can do is come out here and work hard and show them that the plays I make in the special teams phase of the game will roll over into the defensive phase of things."

Another possible option is six-year veteran Brad Jones, who signed as a free agent in the offseason. Jones played both inside and outside in Green Bay. Started 13 games outside for the Packers from 2009 through 2011 before being moved inside the last three years.

Jones' spring practice reps were almost exclusively inside. But after Long went down, Davis had him start cross-training inside and outside. Jones said it's likely he'll take more reps outside now that Smith is out.

"Probably, but I don't control any of that," he said. "I just work here. But the outside is looking kind of thin right now. I would think I would take a couple more days [of reps] over there."

Vinny Curry is another possibility. Curry, who was drafted by Andy Reid in 2012 as a 4-3 end, has found a niche as an interior rusher in Davis' sub-packages. He had nine sacks in just 371 snaps last year.

Davis has talked for a while now about possibly giving Curry some practice reps at outside linebacker. But that hasn't really materialized.

And if they stand Curry up, someone would have to replace him as an interior rusher. Also, at 279 pounds, Curry would be a liability if he was ever asked to drop into coverage.

Last season, the Eagles' top three outside linebackers - Barwin, Trent Cole and Graham - missed just one game all season. Barwin played 1,046 snaps, Cole 834 and Graham 524.

The Eagles finished tied for second in the league in sacks with 49, and Barwin (14 1/2), Cole (6 1/2) and Graham (5 1/2) had more than half of them (26 1/2).

"We had a good three-man rotation last year," said Barwin, who led the NFC in sacks. "It's probably not going to be as clean as it was last year. Who knows how it'll end up. I don't know. We're only going into our second preseason game. So we're still three weeks, a month, from our opener. But I know it won't be as clear and clean as it was last year with just a nice three-man rotation."

The 6-5, 241-pound Braman was instrumental in the Eagles' league-best four punt blocks last season. He had one of them and helped set up the other three because of the blocking attention he attracted.

But, he admitted it's a little easier rushing against smaller linebackers on punts than it is 6-5, 320-pound offensive tackles on pass plays.

"This is my second year in the defense," Braman said. "I feel a lot more comfortable than I did last year. All of the reps I've gotten definitely help with the way I learn, as far as being a kinesthetic learner. I have to go through the motions. Let my muscles feel it. Pick up the muscle memory and go from there."

Braman plays on all four of the Eagles' special teams units. He usually averages about 25 to 30 special teams snaps a game. If he ends up being the third outside linebacker, he said it shouldn't have any effect on his special teams workload.

"I don't think it will affect it at all," he said. "They'll expect me to continue what I'm doing [on special teams] and will have the same expectations for me. They'll just expect more out of me [at outside linebacker] when it's time to go in there and give the other guys a rest."

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