Eagles' Brandon Bair likely get 1st NFL start

BENNIE LOGAN took over as starting nose tackle for Isaac Sopoaga at the midpoint of the 2013 season. Since then, for every game the Eagles have played, the starting defensive line has been Fletcher Cox, Logan and Cedric Thornton.

Thornton broke a bone in his right hand last Sunday against Dallas, though, so that streak is expected to end this week at the Jets. (Thornton should be out a few weeks.) The team hasn't said exactly how it plans to handle Thornton's absence, and reporters aren't allowed to watch the parts of practice that would tell us that, but with 2014 fifth-round defensive end Taylor Hart also not practicing this week because of a right shoulder injury, it seems very likely that Brandon Bair will get his first NFL start, just a couple of months shy of his 31st birthday.

Other Eagles indicated they thought that would be the case. Bair, a loyal Chip Kelly soldier (and Oregon alum), vowed that he had no idea.

The Eagles are still expected to rotate two defensive-line groups, with Vinny Curry moving back to end full time from outside linebacker, and Marcus Smith dressing for the first time this season, to back up outside linebackers Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin.

Bair, 6-6, 290, who spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Jacksonville, hasn't played yet this season. Last season he blocked a field goal and an extra point, and played 196 defensive snaps, notching 1 1/2 sacks.

"Obviously, we've got Ced down, and we'll have a different rotation," Bair said. "We'll see."

"Brandon, he's all about his work," Cox said yesterday. "He goes in and he focuses on what he's got to get done. He's been taking a lot of notes, and, being Brandon, asking a lot of questions . . . I don't think it'll be different (for the line). I know Brandon's ready. I think this might be his first NFL start, but I know he's ready."

It isn't clear Bair will definitely get a starter's share of reps. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis could, for example, move Logan outside to defensive end some, and play Beau Allen with the first unit at nose tackle.

"Our guys can play all over the place," Bair said. "I feel confident with any guy at any spot on our d-line."

"I will, I'll be rotating all around, just like I did this past Sunday," Logan said. "I played end, I played nose . . . We still have a nice little rotation going on, where everybody will be fresh."

Allen said he's glad to have Curry back practicing with the linemen. "He's a very versatile player . . . I want to see as much of him as possible. He can get to the quarterback, he can two-gap, too," Allen said.

Curry, who hasn't gotten as much play at outside linebacker as he'd hoped when he was moved just before the season, was leery of saying he might play more now at defensive end.

"I don't know," he said. "You know how it goes."

Curry moving back to the line, and Brad Jones working solely at inside linebacker, with Kiko Alonso (knee) and Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) ailing, ought to give Smith a decent chance to make his mark, after recovering from a preseason hamstring injury.

"I'm ready to go," Smith said. He said he studied assiduously while he was sidelined. "I feel really comfortable in what I'm doing."

Jets starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick started against the Eagles last season for the Houston Texans, a 31-21 Eagles victory in which both DeMeco Ryans and Nick Foles went down for the season. As a passer, Fitzpatrick was so-so (13-for-27 for 203 yards, sacked four times, two touchdowns, plus the interception on which Ryans tore his Achilles', an 82.8 passer rating).

But Fitzpatrick, 32, his long beard trailing in the wind (hey, that's how I want to remember it) also broke loose from pass rush pressure enough to run six times for 49 yards.

"He's a scrapper," Bennie Logan recalled. "Whenever we got close to him, thought we had a sack, he always got out of the sack. He's a fighter . . . He's not looking to run, but if he has an opportunity to, he definitely will."

Miles Austin's eyes widened when he heard the Eagles would practice today and tomorrow at Monmouth, in order to be free of the Pope Francis-related traffic in Philadelphia, as they complete preparations for Sunday's game at the Jets.

Austin finished his Monmouth career a decade ago as the Hawks' all-time leader in receptions (150), receiving yards (2,867) and touchdown catches (33). A North Jersey connection with Bill Parcells got Austin signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cowboys, and he eventually made two Pro Bowls with them, becoming Monmouth's most famous NFL alum.

Austin, 31, from Garfield, N.J., said: "I go back in the summertime, help the receivers, whatnot, get a couple workouts, but to be practicing there (again), an official practice, is something I never expected. I'm excited about it."

Austin's wife, Stacy, played lacrosse at Monmouth, he said.

Chip Kelly finally acknowledged that inside linebacker Kiko Alonso (knee) won't play this week. Alonso is to see Dr. James Andrews next week for a second opinion on what has been diagnosed as a Grade II sprain - a partial tear - of his repaired left ACL. It's possible Alonso could play with the injury in a few weeks, but he would run a risk of a total tear and more extensive damage to cartilage . . . The Eagles said safety/special-teamer Chris Maragos was limited in practice with a hip injury . . . The Eagles are 9-0 all-time against the Jets.

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