Eagles' Roseman not expecting quick fix

THERE ARE a lot of moving parts to fit together, there's a lot of work still to be done. The "retooling" of the Eagles is a long-range project, general manager Howie Roseman said last night.

This was an obvious theme, with the Birds 1-2 and traveling Sunday to Denver to face the league's scariest offense in Peyton Manning and the Broncos. But it also served to reinforce the message that Roseman knew Chip Kelly couldn't turn last year's 4-12 team into a dominant squad by the end of September 2013, that the ups and downs so far are not a disconcerting surprise to the front office.

"Sometimes you have to go back to the big picture. It's a 16-game season, you're going to have streaks over the course of the year," Roseman said after appearing on his 94 WIP radio show. "When you look at what we're trying to do, we're building, and we brought a lot of new people in together, throughout the organization, whether it's in personnel, whether it's in coaching, whether it's in players, whether it's in new schemes. At the same time, there are a lot of positives to take out of it, in terms of our offense and the yardage - I think we have the most yardage [1,385] in the history of the Eagles franchise over the first three games - and there are a lot of things we can look on to improve."

Indeed, on that last point, Roseman didn't mention that the Eagles have given up 1,315 yards in three games, which might not be a franchise record, but definitely is a whole darn lot.

"It's exciting, getting an opportunity to evaluate our team against good players, and obviously, it's a challenge going into Denver this week," Roseman said.

Earlier, Roseman made much the same point on his show, saying: "It's going to be some time to gel and get it right."

Roseman is definitely aware that the Eagles haven't won a home game since Sept. 30, 2012, and that losing the first two home games of the Chip Kelly era in a 4-day span is not going to fill everyone with optimism and anticipation.

"They're going to get rewarded," Roseman said of Eagles fans, whom he said showed as much energy and enthusiasm "as we've had in a long time."

"We're going to make our statement . . . we're getting there," Roseman said.

Other points covered either during the show or afterward, when Roseman spoke with reporters:

* Asked if in the offseason he anticipated the safety position being the area of concern it obviously is (and was last year), Roseman said the "overriding philosophy in the offseason . . . was to make sure we were building our team in the right way, and not forcing anything. Taking the opportunities that were given to us in free agency and the draft. I think the story is yet to be written on how everything turns out, including the safety position. Obviously, after three games, that's something you look at . . . we've got a lot of football left to be played."

Roseman touted rookie safety Earl Wolff, who seems to have a lot to learn about recognizing what the offense is doing but also seems to be a sure tackler and an eager learner.

* Asked how he would judge his free-agent class - linebacker Connor Barwin is a key cog but linebacker Jason Phillips is out for the season, running back Felix Jones plays for the Steelers now, safety Kenny Phillips was cut and tight end James Casey is a deep sub, despite a 3-year, $17 million contract - Roseman said he's confident Casey will make a contribution.

"The guys that we brought in and we signed to long-term deals, we wanted to be here and be part of a core. It wasn't just about the first three games, it was about having guys here who were going to be part of a team and hopefully grow together and get some continuity," Roseman said.

Patrick Chung, part of the struggles at the safety position, signed for 3 years and $10 million, Jason Phillips for 2 years and $1.46 million. Jones and Kenny Phillips were 1-year contracts.

* Roseman didn't rule out trading a draft pick for a player, as the Colts did last week in acquiring Trent Richardson, but he talked again about "building the right way," which generally does not include trading away draft picks. He said trades are rare in the season, so the odds are against the Eagles doing anything by the Oct. 29 trade deadline.

* Asked about acquiring draft picks, as the Browns did in getting a first-rounder for Richardson, Roseman said he would be reluctant to lower the talent level of the current team. "We want to compete right now . . . we're not trying to rebuild, we're trying to retool."

* Roseman mentioned the play of younger defensive players such as Fletcher Cox, Cedric Thornton, Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry when asked about positives from the Kansas City loss. Curry, a guest on the show, said afterward "it definitely feels better" to have gotten into a game for the first time in 2013 and notched a sack. Curry, a 2012 second-round pick, was drafted as a 4-3 defensive end. The Eagles are trying to play 3-4. Curry said he was "playing my game, playing inside the scheme." He said he definitely can play a two-gap 3-4. "The most important thing to me and the highlight of the night was to see my teammates excited that I was out there," Curry said. "It really meant a lot to me."

The Eagles practice today for the first time since Thursday's loss . . . The team signed wide receiver Will Murphy to the practice squad and dropped offensive lineman Isaac Remington. Murphy and Remington are former Oregon Ducks who were with the Eagles throughout training camp. Howie Roseman indicated one reason for the move is an injury to practice-squad wide receiver Greg Salas . . . The Eagles announced they had reached an injury settlement and released cornerback Brandon Hughes.