Nolan Carroll was on his way to setting himself up for a big payday prior to his injury last season. The Philadelphia Eagles brought him back on a one-year deal and he will compete for a starting spot in what is now a crowded secondary.

Carroll’s foot injury caused a number of teams to back off of him when he hit the free agent market. He has done extensive rehab and managed to work his way back into teams reps during the last three days of mandatory minicamp.

“It felt good to be back out there, just to get the helmet on again and take team reps,” Carroll said. “I appreciate that after so much rehab. I told myself, minicamp was what I wanted to aim for. That was my mindset.”

Carroll showed his cat-like quickness as he covered receivers running slants and other short routes. He transitioned out of his backpedal smoothly and stayed with his receiver well enough to force the quarterbacks to look the other direction.

“It was cool for me to go out there and react off of someone else instead of doing drills and working at my own speed,” Carroll said after the last minicamp practices.

Going against a receiver as opposed to drills gave Carroll a better idea of how far along his recovery process has been.

“The first day was iffy because I didn’t know how I was going to react off of someone else,” Carroll said. “Once I took that first plant step, I didn’t feel any pain or discomfort. That got me more comfortable to be able to do it more.

“I didn’t feel anything after the first days. I am not hesitant on anything like the feeling out phase and everything felt fine.”

The next goal is to be able to fully compete at training camp. One of the benefits of coming back in minicamp was getting an opportunity to test his ankle. Seeing it hold up well gave Carroll the confidence that he will be fine when he reports for camp next month.

“No limitations. My ankle has been holding on and I am ready for camp,” Carroll said. “I was trying to let it loose the last three days I was out there. I didn’t want coming into training camp to be a shock to me. I wanted to do it now so I know how it is going to be.”

Even though he hasn’t been on the field as much as the others, Carroll still feels the vibe in the locker room. The new coaching staff has spawned a renewed attitude among the defensive players.

“There is more energy because it is a new atmosphere, new coaches around,” Carroll said. “Guys are excited, they are buying into what we are doing. Everybody is just eager to see how it will be when we put on the pads when camp comes around.”