‘Mini Haason Reddick’: Rookie Nolan Smith impressing teammates at Eagles camp

The morning after an off-day earlier in training camp, Josh Sweat woke up to a peculiar notification on his cell phone.

Nolan Smith followed him on Twitter around 3 a.m.

Upon returning to the Eagles practice facility, Sweat asked Smith what he could possibly be doing awake at such a ripe hour, and his rookie teammate confessed something: He sometimes stays up through the night watching tape of the previous day’s practice.

“I ain’t going to lie, certain nights you can’t sleep, I sit up and watch film,” Smith said. “That’s what [Georgia coach Kirby] Smart said, certain nights you just think about the bad plays you make on your day off and you just sit there and watch them. I understand what he means now.”

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The edge rusher said he’s typically not satisfied with what he sees on tape, but everyone else is reasonably impressed with the first-round pick a few weeks into his first training camp with the Eagles.

Smith has lined up at various positions, from the 4i-technique shaded on the inside shoulder of the offensive tackle, to the edge, and even at off-ball linebacker at times. He has made plays from multiple alignments, showcasing the athleticism and strength that led to him being the 30th pick in April’s NFL draft.

Smith logged some limited snaps at off-ball linebacker at Georgia and was used in coverage a decent amount of time to help the Bulldogs defense mix up its tendencies up front. He said it’s not something he wants to major in, but the more he can do, the better.

“It’s not ideally where I want to play, but it’s a skill set,” Smith said. “I try to be a Swiss Army knife — I can play off the ball, on the ball, whatever the coach needs me to do to dress up and disguise — but ultimately I can pass rush on all five of the O-linemen because I’m a pass rusher.”

Strangely enough, Smith does seem to get a thrill out of the challenge playing the 4i-technique presents for a 238-pound edge rusher lined up against linemen well above 300 pounds. During a practice session last week, Smith got into the backfield for a run stop from the interior with a lateral move that capitalized on his quickness against bigger, stronger blockers.

“You’ve really just got to have heart to go in there and fool around with them big boys,” Smith said. “Just know your personnel and know your skills and traits. They want to head bang, I can’t head bang on this one, I’ve got to use my speed. And then, certain people, like against tight ends, they don’t like head banging, so that’s what I’ve got to do.”

Smith has gotten a good amount of snaps with the starting defense and flashed at times, but he has made the majority of his splashy plays against the second-team offense. He primarily has worked against fellow rookie Tyler Steen when running against the second team, which has turned into a competitive match, with each player having his wins and losses.

Even though he hasn’t had quite the same impact against the starters, he has gotten the attention of tackles Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, both of whom had lofty comparisons for their new teammate.

“Mini Haason Reddick, man,” Mailata said. “He’s elusive, quick, he’s a smart player.”

Johnson added, “I’m not comparing him to this guy, but you see Micah Parsons, a guy that has tremendous speed, undersized and was at linebacker and then you put him on the line of scrimmage and you see what he’s doing now. A guy with that type of quickness, that type of burst, is a threat every time he’s on the ball because he can get a tackle turned and once he does that, he can kind of have his way.”

Smith said he studied tape of Reddick during his college career and has been using the Eagles’ star edge rusher as a benchmark. “I really watched him on film,” Smith said. “Now I have an up-close look. I’m watching his reps every day and just trying to make sure my reps match his reps, make sure I’m using my hands different and bending and getting off the ball.”

Against the Ravens in the preseason opener Saturday, Smith figures to stand in Reddick’s place as a starting edge rusher unless Eagles coach Nick Sirianni makes a surprising decision to play established veterans at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

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After suffering a torn pectoral muscle at Georgia last season and missing the final seven games, Smith said he’s eager to play in a game for the first time since last October.

“I missed seven weeks,” Smith said. “I sat on the sideline seven weeks, so I just can’t wait to run and hit somebody else of a different color.

“I remember that feeling in my heart that I got when I couldn’t play another snap,” Smith added. “Most people think it’s a game, but if you really live this [stuff] day in and day out, and you walk off that field knowing, ‘Man, I don’t know if that’s going to be my last snap,’ you’ll go hard. Harder than you’ve ever gone.”