Two years later after being drafted 13th overall by the Eagles, defensive end Brandon Graham is most familiar with the flip side of being a top selection: pressure, scrutiny, high expectations and harsh criticism for falling short. Those realities all tail him as he enters a critical third season in the NFL, still trying to make his mark with the Eagles. "I haven't [done] nothing, really," Graham said on Tuesday according to Jonathan Tamari of the Philadelphia Inquirer, summing up what many fans think of him. He vows to use that perception as motivation to return this season in better shape. "Right now, I'm a bust, so I'm going to deal with that. I'm a bust, and I'm going to keep being a bust. Even when I make plays, I'm going to still act like I'm a bust. You know what I'm saying?" After two seasons with just three sacks and six starts, one torn anterior cruciate ligament and one microfracture knee surgery, Graham has endured an avalanche of criticism and unflattering comparisons to Jason Pierre-Paul, the defensive end drafted by the Giants two picks after Graham. "It hasn't done nothing but make me grow and help me get stronger," Graham said. He played in just three games in 2011. Twice he dressed and was left to sit on the bench. "Going through that whole thing last year, not playing, I just grew as a person, that was number one. I've moved on from it. Now it's time for me to defend myself." "Its been a whole year since I've been out there [as] confident as I am today and all I can do is just take it one day at a time, one practice at a time, and that's what I'm doing. Today went pretty well," Graham said after practice. With Jason Babin skipping the start of the voluntary sessions, Graham got some snaps with the first team defense. "I felt real good. . . . Now I don't really think about my knee as much as I did coming back, because that's what I was doing a lot, I was favoring it." Now, he said, "I just go as hard as I can." Source: The Redzone
