Injury-plagued linebacker Travis Long, once a top prospect under Chip Kelly and Bill Davis, was released by the Eagles Wednesday morning.
Long was released after just two practices of training camp. He’s suffered three torn ACLs since the fall of 2012.
Long had 9 ½ sacks as a senior at Washington State but suffered a torn ACL late in the season in a game against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz., and went undrafted.
The Eagles signed him late in the offseason, and he spent the entire 2013 season on the practice squad.
After a very good preseason in the summer of 2014, he suffered a torn left ACL during a preseason game against the Jets, ending his season. He rehabbed for year, then suffered another torn left ACL early in training camp last summer and missed another season.
So despite being with the Eagles for the entire three years of Kelly’s regime, he never set foot on the field for a regular-season game.
Long, who turned 25 on Sunday, had 20 ½ sacks and 201 tackles in 47 starts at Washington State. He was an honorable mention Pac 12 pick as a senior and the Cougars’ defensive MVP.
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Long’s release leaves the Eagles’ roster at 89, one below the training camp limit of 90.
The Eagles are extremely thin at linebacker. With Long no longer in the picture, they have six backups behind projected starters Mychal Kendricks, Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham, whose short-term future is up in the air after his reported arrest in Miami.
The backups are undrafted rookies Myke Tavarres, Don Cherry and Quentin Gause, rookie seventh-round pick Joe Walker and older veteran street free agents Deontae Skinner and Najee Goode.
