Eagles longtime long snapper feels the heat

THE EAGLES worked out a couple of long snappers Tuesday, Tyler Lott and Patrick Scales. Jon Dorenbos didn't have to use any magic tricks to find out about this; his coaches told him.

They also told him Lott and Scales went home without being signed. So Dorenbos, 35, an Eagle since 2006, will take the field this Sunday against Tampa. It will be Dorenbos' 143rd regular-season game with the Birds, and he knows it also could be his last, if he doesn't correct the problem that contributed to a blocked punt and a missed field goal in last Sunday's 20-19 loss to Miami.

"Of course," Dorenbos said after Wednesday's practice, when asked if he'll be under more pressure than normal this week. "But you know what? I like that. It motivates me. That kind of forces me to kind of fine-tune some things. I'm loving the challenge . . . I take a lot of pride in this team. I take a lot of pride in this organization. I've been here for 10 years. And I take a lot of pride in my work (off-the-field) for the ownership, because of the opportunities that they've given me for a decade.''

Dorenbos, an accomplished magician, makes a lot of community appearances for the Eagles, and no doubt they appreciate it. But the bottom line is snapping the ball.

"I don't have a doubt in my ability. I don't have a doubt in the things I'm going to do to get my game where it needs to be," Dorenbos said. "I can't wait."

Dorenbos looked at the film of his snap that was into the body of holder Donnie Jones, on Caleb Sturgis' missed 32-yard field goal against the Dolphins, and at the snap that forced Jones, a left-footed punter, to step to his right, perhaps delaying the operation enough to allow for the block, which led to a Miami touchdown.

"I was consistently off. I was high-right," Dorenbos said. He said the fact that he kept doing the same thing should make it easier to correct than if he'd done different things wrong on different snaps.

"At least you can be like, 'Is this tilted? Is that tilted? I'm too much right hand, I'm too much this. Maybe I'm not following through enough.' . . . It's all little things, and to me, the key is, forget about it, and just do what I've been doing for as long as I've been doing it. The worst thing a specialist can do is get in his own head," Dorenbos said.

"I went out today and I'm really happy with the day I had today. I'm going to just do that - I'm excited about the challenge, I'm excited that I had another opportunity to come to work today. I get how the business is . . . It's a competitive world . . . It's a game of, 'You're here to do a job.' That's it. It's black and white. My job is to throw Donnie strikes, whether it's a punt or field goal . . . I appreciate the team's honesty. I'm not going to let it get in the way of doing what I do. I'm the guy, and I'm going to be the guy."

Dorenbos hasn't been so directly connected to a loss in his Eagles career.

"I've had games that weren't up to my standard. Maybe drastic things didn't happen, and it goes a little more under the radar," he said. "This is a position where a few bad things is catastrophic, and I was the main reason for that. That's something that can't happen, in my position."

Left tackle Jason Peters did not practice Wednesday, after practicing Tuesday. A source close to the situation said Peters' ailing back is no longer causing him pain, though he continues to deal with some quadriceps weakness from a pinched nerve. Thursday's practice might very well tell us whether Peters misses his third game in a row.

Chip Kelly said Peters was "ruled out by doctors" Sunday, Kelly disputing a report from 94WIP's Howard Eskin that Peters had been cleared to play as a backup but refused to play if he didn't start.

"He wasn't in a position where he was going to be able to play," Kelly said.

Running back Ryan Mathews has not even watched practice since being concussed Sunday, so it seems unlikely he will play this week against the Bucs . . . Outside linebacker Connor Barwin (quad) sat out practice for the second day in a row. Chip Kelly said he expects to have Barwin against Tampa, but "we are confident that if Connor can't go, then Marcus (Smith) can fill in there." Smith, the team's 2014 first-round pick, played five defensive snaps against Miami. Barwin played 64 of a possible 67 . . . Safety Walter Thurmond (hamstring) was a full practice participant.

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