By Patrick Del Gaone, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz isn’t one to mince words when it comes to his defensive players.
Today he issued a wake-up call to Nigel Bradham following his recent arrest for carrying a loaded gun at Miami International Airport.
"The worst thing I’ve ever forgotten at the airport is a razor, or a belt or something," Schwartz said. "This takes it to a different level. 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. You do dumbass things, pretty soon you’re gonna be labeled a dumbass. He’s got a lot of ground to make up. He represents not just himself, he represents everybody [in the organization]. He’s gotta earn some trust back.”
Clearly, Schwartz has had enough of Bradham’s shenanigans. Over the summer, the Florida State product was arrested for punching a hotel worker in Miami, a situation which resulted in felony charges just a few days ago.
While Bradham has created distractions off the field, he has been one of the key additions to an Eagles defense which leads the NFL with only nine points per game allowed.
The Eagles will travel to Detroit this weekend looking to avenge a 45-14 Thanksgiving thrashing at the hands of the Lions last fall. Matthew Stafford carved up the Eagles defense for five touchdowns and 337 yards in the nationally-televised blowout, but those stats will be very difficult to replicate considering Schwartz's defense is yet to allow a passing touchdown through three games.
Calvin Johnson was the recipient of three touchdowns from Stafford last Thanksgiving. Luckily, Philadelphia won’t have to worry about stopping retired Lion this time around.
“He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around,” Schwartz said. “He treated every day like he was trying to make the team. He was the most talented guy, but he didn’t act that way. He was one of the greatest players to every play in this league. More than that, he was a great teammate, a great guy off the field. He’s an easy guy to root for, and he’s a much easier guy to play defense [against] when he’s dancing with the stars instead of on the field. That big Joker demanded double-teams, and he could wreck your game if you didn’t. That’s probably my definition of a great player, when a coordinator starts his game plan with, this guy can’t beat us, and you can still do it.”
High praise from the former Lions head coach, whose defense is performing at such a high level that rumors have been swirling that he’ll be a top candidate for head coaching positions at the conclusion of the season.
This morning, Schwartz was asked bluntly whether or not he wants to be a head coach again.
“Everybody talks about the hot seat this time of year, I’m just trying to keep my ass off the hot seat,” Schwartz said. “The way this league is, you don’t have time to think about a whole lot, other than doing your job. I’m trying to do my job. I’m trying to put our defense in a position to win games, and if I can do a good job with that than I’ll be happy.”
You can watch the full press conference from Schwartz and Reich below.
