Bowen: Eagles done experimenting with o-line

HE STILL has three weeks to tinker before the regular season starts, but Doug Pederson doesn't seem inclined to do any more experimenting with his offensive line setup.

Assuming Lane Johnson is indeed suspended for a positive drug test, Allen Barbre will start at right tackle and rookie Isaac Seumalo will take Barbre's spot at left guard.

While Pederson could plug in a Stefen Wisniewski here or an Andrew Gardner there, in practice or for a few series in Saturday's third preseason game at Indianapolis, just to see how that might look, there is value in getting your starting five settled and working smoothly together. That seems to be the priority.

Pederson said Seumalo is "getting better with every snap and with every rep. Wasn't perfect (in the second preseason game, at Pittsburgh), by no means, but at the same time he has done an outstanding job along with Allen. Allen, I thought, had a great game at right tackle, as well. He really settled into the role and we'll try to keep that same combination next week."

Pederson said he "wasn't going to crown" Seumalo as the starter right now, but added that "he hasn't done anything to not be the starter."

Center Jason Kelce said Seumalo "was a lot more sound in his assignments" than he'd been in the preseason opener. "His pass 'pro,' he had better feet. It just seemed he felt a little bit more natural out there this week. A couple times, he got his hands swiped (knocked away by the defender), he has to do a little bit better with his hands, but that's going to come."

Seumalo, as most Eagles fans know by now, was drafted in the third round to compete with Barbre at left guard, but missing most of the spring work because Oregon State was on the quarter system left him far behind in the early days of camp. It was a mild surprise after the preseason opener, when Pederson made Seumalo his first choice to step in, as he moved Barbre to right tackle.

"There's still a ton to work on, things I can get better at and be more consistent at, but as far as improvement, I felt I did better than last week," Seumalo said.

Seumalo's worst moment came when his holding penalty wiped out a 21-yard pass play from Sam Bradford to Darren Sproles, Bradford unloading just as he was hit.

"I just overset the guy," said Seumalo, who was beaten to the inside. "That's on me . . . gotta know where the quarterback's at . . . the depth of the pocket . . . It was a huge play. I'm kinda kicking my butt over it."

Seumalo said that in film review, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland told him, "I'm almost doing too much, moving too much. A big thing that (right guard) Brandon Brooks told me, too, is, it's all about efficiency. No wasted movement. It was better than last week, but it still needs to get cleaned up."

Barbre, 32, is going to be playing out of position, and has resigned himself to that. He's better on the left side, and strength is a bigger asset than quickness, making him more of a fit at guard. But Barbre prides himself in trying to do whatever the coaching staff needs him to do, without complaint.

"Getting better and better. Just keep working at it. All I can do," Barbre said after the Pittsburgh game.

"It's getting there," Kelce said, when asked about the line coming together. "This'll be the first real week where we'll actually go through some scouting some things where we'll be more prepared for the team we'll be playing, because, obviously, the starters will play more this week. So this is kind of the most similar to a gamelike situation we'll be in (before the regular season starts) . . . Now is really where all the communication is going to take place, a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more."

The challenge isn't just getting Seumalo and Barbre up to speed in their new spots, it's getting them functioning in unison with the rest of the group.

"You're trying to square out little things that end up making a big difference," Kelce said. "Everybody knows who they have, but how is he going to surface a certain type of block that we're working together on? How we want it to get done this week, vs. how a particular defensive line plays. There's little things you work together with - let's say we're sliding to the left; you're going a little bit too deep or a little bit too far, it's expanding the pocket a little bit too much. There's things like that you're constantly ironing out."

Pederson spoke of wanting his starting o-line to get more snaps, get in more of a rhythm at Indianapolis. The starters played the whole first half at Pittsburgh, but the Eagles managed only four first-quarter snaps; Seumalo's first start with the group wasn't a "real" full half of work.

"He's such a smart guy , it's really second nature for him. But for them to have (the Pittsburgh game) and then to get more work this week would be even better now, going into the start of the season," Pederson said.

@LesBowen

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