Professor

Philadelphia Eagles

excerpt:

The road to rebounding from disappointing rookie seasons has been a long one for defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley and strongside linebacker Chris Gocong. And after months of working out mentally and physically, the penciled-in starters can finally show their coaches that it was a good idea to promote them.

Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson finally had a chance to see Gocong and Bunkley in action. The evaluation process will last the entire preseason, but each has spent a long time making sure their rookie campaigns would be one to forget.

A first-round pick in 2006, Bunkley held out for the first 16 days of training camp, and came in overweight at about 320 pounds. As a rookie he got behind in the playbook, and never made it into the starting rotation. He barely got any playing time, recording only 13 tackles and no sacks.

This off-season, however, Bunkley stayed around Philadelphia to work out at the NovaCare Complex, and the physical results are staggering. The Florida State product comes into this camp having lost about 30 pounds.

"For some reason I thought bigger would mean better," Bunkley said of his weight as a rookie. "(Because I weigh less now) I will last a bit longer, have more endurance. I feel a little bit quicker, I feel like I can run to the ball a little bit better, and I don't have to worry about getting too tired."

Gocong, a third-round selection last year, sustained a stinger, and was placed on injured reserve. While he was not able to practice with the team, even when he had recovered midway through the season, Gocong was able to take mental reps. As a rookie in Johnson's defense, he was not yet ready to play.

"It was real frustrating to not be able to show what I can do," Gocong said. "At the same time, I didn't feel like I knew the system well enough to show my full ability yet."

And to make the transition to the NFL more difficult, Gocong was moving from a defensive end at Cal Poly to a linebacker for the Eagles.

"It's a total change in the game," Gocong said. "(I'm) going from a single-minded attack of the quarterback or ball carrier, to seeing everything, the coverages, how the defense relates together."

Now that Gocong and Bunkley have had an off-season to work on adjusting themselves to the next level, they are getting a chance to begin to translate the mental part of the game to the physical. Each has had a productive training camp, learning a lot as well as gaining confidence in his abilities.

"I was a little anxious the first day of hitting," Gocong said. "I wasn't sure how my neck was going to feel. And then I hit a few guys and it was like 'Hey, this is what it's like to play football again.'"

And after fighting to get to this point, hitting for 10 straight days during training camp felt good for both of them.

"It was exciting to be hitting around a little bit," said Bunkley.

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