Far from a bust, Brandon Graham emerges

To begin his transformation into an every-down linebacker, Brandon Graham met with his new position coach before the 2013 season and found something that had eluded him through his first three years in the NFL: support.

Bill McGovern, the Eagles' outside linebackers coach, had watched film of Graham and determined that there was something more to him than just another defensive end who liked to chase quarterbacks. In the 3-4 scheme that Chip Kelly preferred, Graham would be a better fit as a linebacker.

As Graham remembered their conversation, McGovern vowed that the defensive coaching staff would work "to get you right," but Graham would have to shoulder some responsibilities, too. He'd have to lose weight, increase his stamina, and learn how to drop into coverage. "He kind of realized," McGovern said, "that he needed to reevaluate where he was physically." Graham had nothing to lose by heeding McGovern's recommendations. The word bust already had been affixed to him, and he was desperate to shed it.

"When you hear that B word," he said, "you're like, 'I've got to get that up off me.' "

Two years later, Graham is one of the team's starting outside linebackers and that rarest of Eagles: an Andy Reid acquisition to whom the Kelly regime has made a long-term commitment. He signed a four-year contract extension in March after testing free agency, one of just 14 Reid holdovers left on the roster, and after the Eagles completed another organized team activity session Monday, he provided the clearest explanation for what Kelly wants in a player - for why Graham is still here and maybe some other players aren't anymore.

"For me, [it was] just buying into whatever Chip says to do 100 percent and not complain about nothing," said Graham, who had 51/2 sacks and four forced fumbles last season. "That's his biggest thing. He wants us to have a championship mentality, and he knows that's what I'm working towards - keeping that attitude on and off the field. I think I kind of rubbed them a good way, the best way."

Kelly insists on that kind of compliance from all of his players, no matter their background, no matter their race. If that autocratic approach gave LeSean McCoy a reason to firebomb Kelly's reputation and Evan Mathis a reason to skip these OTAs and keep demanding a new contract, it also gave Graham a chance to change the course of his career. The Eagles had made him their first-round pick in 2010, passing up Jason Pierre-Paul and Earl Thomas to take him, and for so long he seemed destined to end up another cautionary tale, another example of the organization's bad decision-making on draft day.

Thirteen games into his career, he tore his right anterior cruciate ligament, and by the time he took the field again a year later, Jim Washburn, then the Eagles' defensive-line coach, already had begun to make his life miserable. Washburn preferred Jason Babin, the mercenary whom Washburn had handpicked to play defensive end in the Wide Nine scheme for that infamous 2011 "Dream Team," and Graham was left staring at a stacked deck.

"The low point was when Wash was here," Graham said, "because Wash would make you feel bad, like you can't play at all."

The Eagles finally cut Babin on Nov. 28, 2012, with the team in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. In the next game, in Dallas, Graham collected 11/2 sacks against the Cowboys. The next day, Reid fired Washburn.

"I fought through it at the right time," Graham said. "My biggest thing was, 'Don't break.' I was almost at that breaking point where I was like, 'Man, stuff is not going right.' I think what happened was, when Wash left and I took off for a minute, that gave me hope that I could play in this league. You start to doubt yourself a little bit because the coaches would be on your 24-7. It was tough. But I'm just happy that everything is looking up right now."

He has not answered every question, of course. In his new role, as the full-time replacement for Trent Cole, Graham will have to cover more running backs and tight ends, as McGovern told him in their first meeting. Last season, he was on the field for 524 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, and he was in coverage on just 72 of them. But Graham said he weighs 260 pounds, down five to 10 pounds from his playing weight last season. So, we will see.

"Feeling good," he said. "Moving around nice."

He let that nice linger as he walked off the practice field Monday. It was a satisfying word for Brandon Graham to say, compared to another one.

@MikeSielski