Eagles' o-line is a team of Mudders

THE BIGGEST AREA of upheaval right now on the Eagles' roster is the offensive line.

Tomorrow night's preseason game against visiting Cleveland will feature two rookie starters, right guard Danny Watkins and center Jason Kelce. King Dunlap and just-returned Reggie Wells will audition for the right tackle job, which still is likely to go to Winston Justice when Justice's right knee is healthy enough for him to practice; Eagles coach Andy Reid said yesterday that Justice might be able to do that next week. If Justice isn't OK soon, Reid has indicated the team might move left guard Todd Herremans to right tackle and plug in a guard.

But beyond all that, new offensive-line coach Howard Mudd probably has changed more about the way the o-line does business than any other position coach has changed things this year, even d-line coach Jim Washburn, with his "wide nine" defensive ends.

The Eagles generally do not make position coaches available to reporters, but you've probably heard that Mudd, 69, whose Colts teams allowed a league-low 227 sacks from 1998 to 2009, wants his players to approach pass blocking differently. Instead of taking the step backward into a "vertical set" as they were coached to do under Juan Castillo, Eagles o-linemen are told to initiate contact with the defensive linemen, then move their feet in short "hops" to stay in front of their adversaries.

This is a huge change for guys such as Justice, veteran center Jamaal Jackson and Herremans, who have spent their entire careers with the Eagles under Castillo.

Also an adjustment for them has been Mudd's acerbic, impatient manner; Castillo was vocal, but in a more encouraging way. Any Eagles offensive linemen who heard that Mudd was coming here and thought they were going to learn from a kindly, old grandfather type have undoubtedly been disappointed.

"It's been interesting, but we're all getting used to it," Herremans said yesterday. "He's quite a character of a person. You kinda have to get used to that. Otherwise, he's just going to seem like a grumpy, old man. But he's really not."

Herremans was asked whether Castillo was more positive in his approach. Herremans said he wouldn't say that, because Mudd can be positive.

"I would just say [Mudd] is louder when it's negative," Herremans said.

Herremans is not lamenting the change.

"Whenever there's change . . . You've got to give everything you're changing to a fair shake," he said. "Obviously, there's a reason for it."

Veteran guard and tackle Evan Mathis said yesterday he signed with the Eagles as a free agent because of Mudd, and his preference for smaller, quicker linemen. Mathis, listed generously at 6-5, 302, is a former Panther, Dolphin and Bengal. He said he has had to adjust to quite a few different philosophies and coaching styles.

"[Mudd] has his certain ways of telling people things," Mathis said. "If you can always translate what's being said, no matter how it's said, and get a coaching point out of it, you're going to make progress. I've seen coaches out there who are just yelling, ranting and raving, cussing you out, but not ever saying anything . . . A guy like Howard, no matter how he's saying something, he's always saying something that will help you on the field.

"You can't be a victim, you can't go into a shell, if he has a different way of telling you sometimes. There's always something you can gain from what's being said."

Wells, who rejoined the Eagles this week, spent the first 7 years of his career in Arizona, where coaching staffs changed frequently.

"I've kind of learned to adjust quickly with new guys and new personalities," Wells said. "Ultimately, it just comes down to going out there and working and showing that you can not only play but be versatile . . . [Mudd] has been fine as far as working with me and making sure I know what I'm doing.

"He may not be that [warm and fuzzy] guy. I don't think he ever claimed to be that guy. I'd rather have a guy who was straight up about what he is, and be the same guy every day, as opposed to someone who changes."

A frequent Mudd target lately has been Watkins, the first-round draft choice, who was 22 before he ever played football. Mudd doesn't seem to cut Watkins a lot of slack for his lack of background.

"He wants to make sure you get it right," Watkins said yesterday. "Obviously, you never want to get your ass chewed out, but it's good that he's passionate about what he does, and it helps us.

"They have high expectations of me, and I have expectations of myself here. [With the season getting closer] it's definitely a critical time, that's for sure, and you want to eliminate the mistakes."

If there was one guy in the o-line group who didn't seem to fit the Mudd prototype coming in, it was Dunlap, at 6-9, 330. Andy Reid joked recently that while Dunlap might not be a typical Howard Mudd-type lineman, he could be viewed as two Howard Mudd-type linemen.

But Mudd certainly hasn't buried Dunlap, who got the start last week in Pittsburgh. Ryan Harris, the free-agent signee who looked likely to become Justice's main competition at right tackle, now seems bogged down in a chronic back problem.

"I think everybody's got [Mudd's system] down now. It's a little different than what we were used to with Juan, but it's not difficult at all. Everybody's been working through it," Dunlap said.

"Coach Mudd, he's different from Juan, but he's funny. He's the least-sack offensive-line coach in the history of the NFL, so he knows what he's doing."

Dunlap said he'd "heard all those stories about how [Mudd] liked smaller, quicker linemen," but "I haven't noticed him being particular about anybody's height or size."

Dunlap said he has not felt the urge to crouch, to become less conspicuous. In meetings, Dunlap noted, "I'm usually sitting down, so we're eye level."

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