Marcus Smith was the Eagles' 26th overall pick last year, but he's barely shown himself to be worthy of that selection during his brief stint with the club.With the 53 man roster mandate looming, it wouldn't exactly break the news if Chip Kelly slates Smith as one of the sacrifices to come to meet that number.
After failing to tally a single tackle in his rookie season, he made some decent progress in OTAs and camp, though played in only one of the Eagles' preseason games, notching one tackle against the Colts before a right hamstring injury sidelined him.
So there hasn't much of a body of work for Kelly to go on. But with a deadline looming, the former G.M. Howie Roseman's selection doesn't think his career in Philadelphia is in danger.
"There's no nervousness at all," he said at his locker on Tuesday.
Smith said he isn't thinking in terms of the quantity of his play, but quality.
"I don't think it's the fact that I'm showing the coaches enough," he said. "I think it's a matter of showing the coaches I know exactly what I'm doing so when I come back they can just put me back in there and not mess anything up."
The most likely result for Smith is that he makes the team. The Eagles need some depth at the linebacker position overall and the second-year player may have shown enough improvement over the summer to convince coaches to keep him around another year to make his mark. But if he doesn't make a pronounced step this season, it will be his last.
"I've got my teammates around me, it's an uplifting spirit, and I'll be ready to go sooner or later," he said.
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