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Eagles' Silver Relinings Playbook

The Birds have been able to replace two starting offensive linemen without skipping a beat.

Nick Foles changes signals next to center Jason Kelce. (Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer)
Nick Foles changes signals next to center Jason Kelce. (Ron Cortes/Staff Photographer)Read more

IT HAS happened a lot in the 19 games since Chip Kelly and Howie Roseman began their reign.

Every time something happens with the Eagles, they seem to have it covered.

Consider last year's moments of alarm:

No Jeremy Maclin? Riley Cooper has a great year.

Michael Vick goes down? Nick Foles becomes a star.

It remains to be seen if the release of Pro Bowl receiver DeSean Jackson in his prime will haunt the Eagles. So far, the receiving corps and Foles have developed only a, um, passing acquaintance, but then, Jackson has been a nonfactor with Washington, the Eagles' visitor this weekend.

At least the Birds addressed the departure of Jackson. They drafted receivers in the second and third rounds, re-signed Maclin and added X-factor back Darren Sproles, who has been their best player through two games.

But, for all Sproles' dynamism - 263 yards in total offense, two touchdowns and a handful of fine punt returns - he has not been the most unexpected development of the 2014 season.

The no-name backups on the offensive line have made 2-0 possible.

That might change when Washington visits Sunday, with its top-tier defense. Washington leads the league with 10 sacks and its front seven, headlined by outside linebackers Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan, far outclasses what the Eagles have seen so far.

"That front seven is very, very formidable," Kelly said.

"They do a great job of setting the run and setting the edge on defense, and they kind of earn the right to pass rush," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "That is a formidable, good front. We're going to have to be on our best in terms of blocking them."

Consider it a next step.

Since the Birds lost the last of four of their top eight linemen to injury and suspension, they have scored 57 points on offense.

Of course, they probably would have scored as much and more with healthy linemen.

But any team that loses so much of the best of any unit and continues to be not only respectable but, at times, unstoppable, is a team that deserves a second look.

Consider, too, that the Eagles declined to draft a lineman in May.

They took Lane Johnson in the first round in 2013, but he is the only lineman in which the Kelly/Roseman brain trust has invested a pick.

Instead, they chose to invest their first-round pick this year in linebacker Marcus Smith, who probably will not start a game this season as long as the linebacker corps remains relatively healthy. They then took receiver Jordan Matthews in the second round and Oregon all-purpose weapon Josh Huff in the third as they sought to replace Jackson and slot receiver Jason Avant.

There was a bizarre run on offensive linemen in the third round - 11 went - that left the pickings slim at those positions.

Besides, for the moment, the Birds figured Allen Barbre and Matt Tobin would suffice.

Barbre is a versatile, seventh-year guard and tackle who spent time in Miami, Seattle and Green Bay and had seven starts with the Packers in 2009.

Tobin, who played both guard and tackle in college, is a pet project for Kelly and Roseman, who signed him as an undrafted free agent last year out of Iowa.

Then Johnson was suspended for the first four games of this season for PED use. Tobin injured an ankle in the preseason finale and just returned to practice this week.

Pro Bowl left guard Evan Mathis sprained a knee in the opener against Jacksonville and will miss at least six more games. Barbre, who was starting for Johnson, was lost for the season in the first half of the opener with an ankle injury.

Suddenly, the understudies became headliners.

Perhaps the fact that the Eagles don't consider anyone "understudies" helps with the transition from one player to another.

"The preparation here by the organization, the coaches and players is such that everyone is ready to play," Mathis said. "In the offseason, we're all getting equal reps. Because of that, if the [bleep] hits the fan, you can adapt and adjust. If you have guys who have been groomed for that situation, then you're going to be OK. The guys who have stepped in have been completely ready to step in."

Who knew?

Andrew Gardner spent his first four seasons pretty much not playing for the Dolphins and Texans. He replaced Barbre in the opener, and he remains the starter at the position.

David Molk, a center by trade, dressed for a dozen games as a seventh-round rookie with the Chargers in 2012, but he spent 2013 out of football. He spent the second half of the opener playing guard in place of Mathis, but that's just because roster considerations made Molk the last lineman available.

It should not have been Molk playing for Mathis. It should have been Dennis Kelly.

Kelly was a fifth-round pick in 2012 and started 10 games at tackle and guard in place of injured teammates, but he was marginalized in 2013 with back problems. He was inactive in the opener against the Jaguars, but he was invaluable against the Colts and their gargantuan linemen.

"He was playing against big, physical guys and he matched up well," Shurmur said. "There were really no missed assignments to speak of. Gardner was the same."

Everything is roses right now, but there are a few issues to note:

The Eagles might be down two starters, but left tackle Jason Peters, the best player on the entire team, is playing better than ever.

Center Jason Kelce, the line's leader, remains healthy and active.

The Jaguars and Colts fielded poor defenses last season, and both might even be worse this season.

Still, the depth and versatility the Eagles have shown early in the current regime has been remarkable. A calendar year ago, who would have considered the heights to which Foles and Cooper rose?

Who would have thought that losing half of their best eight linemen would result in the validation of Kelly and Gardner?

The rest of the linemen, for one.

"I think after the preseason was over, everybody would agree we had a pretty solid second group," said Todd Herremans, who is the team's right guard today but who has played every line position except center. Herremans was sold when the second-team line beat up the Steelers' starters in the third preseason game: "They were able to move the ball up and down the field against their starters. I don't think there's much of a falloff from our 'ones' to our 'twos.' "

That might not be the case now. Molk is a center, Tobin is coming off the injury and 11-year veteran Wade Smith was signed just 10 days ago to provide depth.

Every NFL team suffers injury and absence, but seldom do teams consistently respond with such competence.

When the next shoe drops, and it will, it will be fascinating to see what the Eagles do next.