Eagles coaches say Nigel Bradham does ‘dumb-ass things,’ Dorial Green-Beckham’s ‘package has continued to grow’

The Eagles held news conferences at the NovaCare Complex before their regular Thursday practice, in advance of Sunday’s Week 5 matchup in Detroit against the Lions.

In an unusual and entertaining pair of question and answer sessions, Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz gave reporters a pair of soundbites as good as any they’ve gotten in recent years.

First, Schwartz: After talking about visiting his former team this week and how the Eagles plan to stack up against the Lions defensively, the coach was asked about troubled linebacker Nigel Bradham, who was arrested for the second time in three months during the team’s recent bye week.

He provided a lukewarm defense, but stark criticism of the Bradham, who got in trouble for “accidentally” forgetting he had his firearm on him when he tried to travel.

“The worst thing I’ve ever forgotten at the airport I think has been a razor or a belt or something like that,” Schwartz said. “I’m the guy in line that if that person five people ahead has a bottle of water in their luggage, I’m throwing my hands up like, ‘Seriously? Do you ever travel? Do you know that you can’t take water in?’ This takes it to a different level, and I think the most disappointing thing for me is it takes away from the Nigel that we see every day, a good teammate, a hard worker, a trustworthy player on the field, but hey, facts are facts.”

Then the sound bite:

“You do dumb-ass things, pretty soon you’re going to be labeled a dumb-ass, and he’s got a lot of ground to make up because it’s not just him, it’s the rest of us, also. It’s everybody that wears that helmet, all the people in the organization. He represents not just himself, he represents everybody, and he’s got some ground to make up that way. He’s got to earn some trust back.”

Reich’s remark was less serious and most definitely not meant in the context it may have been taken. When asked about second year wideoutDorial Green-Beckham, who is 6-foot-5 and has slowly been working his way onto the field more, Reich said:”his package has continued to grow.”

Of course, the coach was referring to the players’stockpile of plays he can be involved with. He continued:

“It doesn’t always translate into catches right away because sometimes you set something up and against the coverage,” Reich said.”The main coverage that you’re expecting, and then you get a little something different, and so the ball goes somewhere else. But I think what you would see is over the course of time as that continues to build and you’re really trying to target ‘DGB’ on some things, I think that will just continue to show up. He’s done a great job.”