For the second time in less than a year, the Eagles have lost a starter on defense in practice.

Last August, it was Stewart Bradley tearing a knee ligament during a special training camp session moved from Lehigh to Lincoln Financial Field. On Tuesday, it was defensive back Marlin Jackson, his season over after he ruptured his left Achilles' tendon on the first day of voluntary full-squad Organized Team Activities.

At this rate, maybe the Eagles should just cancel practice or mandate that everyone wear body armor from helmet to cleat, even for these noncontact camps.

The team made no official announcement about treatment, but Jackson -- already on the mend from the second of two major knee surgeries -- is likely to undergo another season-ending procedure, one that could push the 2005 first-round pick closer to retirement.

The Eagles gambled on Jackson, who played his first five seasons with the Colts, by signing him to a two-year deal in the offseason and attempting to covert him from a corner to free safety where the former University of Michigan star played occasionally in Indianapolis and in college.