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Evan who? Eagles happy with LG Barbre

Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur couldn’t say enough good things about Evan Mathis’ replacement at left guard, Allen Barbre.

If the Eagles regret their June decision to release Evan Mathis, you'll never, ever hear them admit it. But on the day after Mathis signed with the Denver Broncos, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur couldn't say enough good things about Mathis' replacement at left guard, Allen Barbre.

"Quietly, he's done a really, really good job,'' Shurmur said. "A little bit broader view of things is he's really helping that left side be really solid.

"We feel really good about where he's at, and we feel really good about the work he's doing with (center Jason) Kelce and (left tackle Jason) Peters there.''

Barbre has just eight career starts in seven seasons, and just one since 2009.

Shurmur said Barbre is starting to mesh with Peters.

"I think Jason feels good about Allen being next to him,'' he said. "There's a lot of communication that goes on between those guys. On that left side, those two guys working together has been terrific.''

--The Eagles clearly want to move on from the Saturday night controversy over Terrell Suggs' knee-hit on quarterback Sam Bradford. "We run plays and they get officiated,'' Shurmur said. "Getting hit is sort of an occupational hazard of playing football. We just have to do a good job of making sure we protect ourselves. In that situation, when the edge rusher overcommits to the quarterback, as long as there's a single safety in the middle, there's going to be running room in probably the backside 'C' or 'D' gap. On that specific play, Darren (Sproles) found the cutback and we got a five-yard gain."

Shurmur said the unintended consequence of Suggs' hit on Bradford and a later one on the same drive was that he was able to take a licking and keep on ticking. "He was able to bounce up and that will help him check off some more boxes and be ready to play,'' he said

--Shurmur praised right guard Andrew Gardner, who has started the first two preseason games, but said it still was too early to say whether he will be the season-opening starter there. "We still have a couple of games left,'' Shurmur said. "And the guys that are potentially going to play in that spot get a lot of reps out here (in practice).''

--On Bradford's performance against Baltimore on Saturday, Shurmur said: "He missed a couple of throws. It's just a matter of getting a little bit more work here in training. But in terms of his mechanics and the way he threw and the way he handled himself, we felt like he did a good job.''

--"Shurmur said he's "assuming'' tight end Zach Ertz will be ready for the Sept. 14 season opener against Atlanta, but isn't sure. Ertz had surgery earlier this month to repair what the club described as a core muscle injury. "Behind the scenes, he's taking care of all his treatment obligations. He's in all the meetings, and he's doing everything he can physically. And he's right there mentally. It'll just be a matter of him getting back out there practicing.''

--Shurmur on wide receiver Miles Austin: "He's had a really fine camp. He's missed a couple of days here. But he's a very veteran player. He was back out there yesterday running routes. He knows how to get open. And that's the thing you can say about Miles. Really, he had that one (poor) year in Dallas. But last year in Cleveland, I think he had one of his better years. And we're trying to get the same thing from him this year.'' Austin had 47 catches in 12 games with the Browns last year before suffering a lacerated kidney and missing the rest of the season.