Eagles' Watkins looks like a rookie again

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Ask and you shall block.

Sensing that he needed more work, Danny Watkins approached the Eagles coaches earlier this week and requested to play in Thursday night's game against the New York Jets.

The right guard, the only starter on either offense or defense to play, lasted only a quarter, but there were enough snaps to judge Watkins' performance.

The verdict? About what you would expect from a rookie with less than one month of work in the NFL. Watkins was up; he was down - sort of like he was in the first preseason games.

Andy Reid normally rests his first team in the preseason finale, but the Eagles coach was going to make an exception in Watkins' case - whether Watkins wanted it or not. It was hard to argue with the decision. Watkins, a former firefighter, looked lost in a haze of smoke in various parts of the first three preseason games.

Against the Browns last week, Watkins, along with fellow rookie center Jason Kelce, got burned several times inside. But as Kelce improved as the game went on, Watkins continued to struggle. And so Kelce, a sixth-round draft pick, rested Thursday while the Eagles' top draft pick lined up for about 20 snaps.

The Jets' second-team defense should not be mistaken for their all-NFL first team. So Watkins' performance should be judged on those merits. But, to be fair, he had Mike McGlynn to his left at center and Reggie Wells to his right at tackle and not Kelce and Todd Herremans.

On the first drive, Watkins started slow. Jets defensive tackle Marcus Dixon slapped by the rookie on one pass rush and nearly batted a Vince Young pass down. On another pass, either Watkins or McGlynn missed an assignment, and linebacker Aaron Maybin zoomed into Young's mug.

Watkins looked much steadier, however, on the next two Eagles possessions. He blazed a trail for running back Dion Lewis on a 9-yard scamper and showed his athleticism with a lead block downfield on a screen pass to Lewis.

"The more experience for me, the better," Watkins said. "We didn't have the rookie [minicamps] or anything like that, so I'm just trying to make up for lost time."

On Tuesday, Watkins was scampering through a corridor at the NovaCare Complex when he told two reporters that he asked to play against the Jets. It's safe to assume Reid and offensive line coach Howard Mudd didn't protest much.

The rookie is overly eager to please. Some of that may stem from his late start to football. The story has been told often - Watkins didn't pick up the game until he was 22 when a football coach at Butte Junior College recruited the Canadian fire sciences major.

Hockey he knew. Football was as foreign as French. Still, after only two weeks of practice, his coaches threw him out there for his first game. "I'm sure there were a few times the quarterback was scrambling," Watkins has said.

He beat himself up over the early bumps, but he was a fast learner; so fast that by his sophomore season major colleges were calling. Watkins chose Baylor and had to start all over again. He made mistakes, and his fear of failing kicked in.

"It was the same deal," said Randy Clements, Watkins' offensive coordinator at Baylor. "It got to a point where he was asking me too much and I said, 'Danny, just go out there and play football. We'll worry about the rest when we watch the tape.' "

Watkins played his best when he "just stopped thinking," Clements said Thursday. Eventually, he became all-conference.

Right after the Eagles drafted Watkins in the first round of April's draft, Reid was declaring the college left tackle his starting right guard. Reid knew full well that spring practices weren't likely to happen and that Watkins would show up at training camp feeling like he did four years earlier at Butte.

Showing up a week late because of extended contract negotiations didn't help matters. Watkins did all he could to catch up. He tailed Mudd like a lost Labrador, often staying after practice for extra credit. After one session, Watkins kept after Mudd, who turned and barked: "Did it feel good? Then move on."

"He worries about things because he knows as a lineman he's responsible for others, and he doesn't want to let anyone down," Clements said.

But he - and likely the Eagles - knew he needed more work after the Browns game, although Watkins was more frustrated with how his performance was perceived.

Reid tried to help Saturday by moving Herremans out to right tackle, in part to protect Watkins.

But has he?

It's 10 days until Reid and the Eagles find out.