Sources: Birds signing Tulloch as linebacker insurance

DOUG PEDERSON didn't even try to pretend the Eagles would be fine with the linebackers they had on hand, when Pederson was asked about the depth situation there Saturday, in the wake of Joe Walker's season-ending ACL tear.

"Obviously something is going to have to be done," Pederson said.

Sunday evening, league sources confirmed an ESPN report that the Eagles were signing 31-year-old linebacker Stephen Tulloch, who played for defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in Tennessee and Detroit.

Tulloch's signing here has been rumored pretty much continuously since the Lions released him July 5. The holdup probably was money; the $3 million, one-year deal, with $1.75 million guaranteed, is pretty good for a player who wasn't up to his former standard last season after suffering a 2014 ACL tear. Tulloch (6-foot, 240) underwent arthroscopic ankle surgery this offseason.

Walker, a seventh-round rookie from Oregon, was playing so well the Eagles might have thought they could get by without signing a vet, at least without signing a prominent vet. But once Walker went down, the only backup linebacker with any kind of résumé was Najee Goode.

Schwartz was asked about Tulloch a couple of weeks ago, and while making all the necessary disclaimers about Howie Roseman and the personnel department knowing how to best shape the roster, Schwartz made it clear he was a fan of Tulloch, a former North Carolina State star drafted by the Titans in the fourth round in 2006.

"I got a lot of background with Steve," Schwartz said. "I have a lot of respect for that guy and his production."

The Eagles like their starting trio of Mychal Kendricks, Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham. Unless he has dipped a toe (or a knee) into the fountain of youth, Tulloch seems unlikely to supplant any of them. But he probably would be the middle linebacker if anything happened to Hicks, who has an extensive injury history, including last season's torn pectoral tendon.

Walker, meanwhile, said Saturday he wasn't sure when he would have his left ACL repaired. He was running downfield on a kickoff, the final play of the first half of Thursday's preseason game in Pittsburgh, when he felt a pop and suspected he'd done something serious.

"I was just running," Walker said. "No contact. It happens, you know?"

Though the Eagles could have used him on the field, Walker will derive benefit from a year on the sideline.

"Stay positive, get in meeting rooms, rehab and come back stronger," he said.

Dillon Gordon was a 6-4, 322-pound blocking tight end at LSU. The Eagles are trying to turn him into a left tackle, as Buffalo did with former Arkansas tight end Jason Peters, but that is a long-term project at this point. Gordon doesn't seem that close to helping them on the o-line.

Where he might be able to help right away, though, is at fullback, which is why you heard all of those "No. 69 is eligible" during Thursday night's preseason victory at Pittsburgh.

"I think it really comes naturally," Gordon said over the weekend. "Playing multiple positions in this offense, it just gives me a better understanding of what's going on . . . it makes everything easier for me, down the road (as a tackle)."

The ultimate goal is a starting o-line job, someday. Gordon said he is soaking up everything he can from Peters.

"We have very similar backgrounds, playing tight end in the SEC, switching to offensive line in the league, and then, he also tore his Achilles', like I tore my Achilles'. Really, the same story."

Peters missed the 2012 season after tearing and re-tearing his right Achilles' in the offseason. Gordon injured his left Achilles' in LSU's second game last season, missed three games, came back and reinjured it, requiring surgery. Gordon applied for an extra year of NCAA eligibility but was denied.

Gordon said Peters has "taken me under his wing from the beginning."

What's the most important thing Peters has imparted?

"Really, playing left tackle, you just have to keep the man in front of you. He saw that that was kind of my problem when I first started, because I always wanted to just attack the person, and I kind of put myself in bad situations."

So, are there any plans for him to tote the football as a fullback?

"Not yet," Gordon said. "But we'll see."

The Eagles released wideouts T.J. Graham and Xavier Rush, center Bruce Johnson and running back Cedric O'Neal . . . Rookie running back Wendell Smallwood confirmed Doug Pederson's account, that though Smallwood practiced last week, he just couldn't "hit top gear" with the quad injury that has now caused him to miss the first two preseason games. "I think I'm going to be full go this week," Smallwood said. He said veterans told him, "Just take your time, it's a long season, you don't want to be dealing with this later, down the road" . . . Corner Jalen Mills and linebacker Mychal Kendricks returned to practice Saturday from hamstring injuries . . . Wideout Jordan Matthews said he doesn't blame Mills for the knee injury Matthews suffered in practice, from a low Mills hit. Matthews said he will be OK by the season opener, Sept. 11. "Do I think he was trying to hurt me? No, obviously not," Matthews said.

@LesBowen

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