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G Barbre has given Eagles no reason to take him out of starting lineup

MAYBE THINGS will change, after third-round rookie Isaac Seumalo is eligible to rejoin the Eagles for training camp. Maybe Stefen Wisniewski, currently the backup center, or Malcolm Bunche, the second-team left guard, will eventually emerge to challenge Allen Barbre's hold on the starting position between Jason Peters and Jason Kelce.

MAYBE THINGS will change, after third-round rookie Isaac Seumalo is eligible to rejoin the Eagles for training camp.

Maybe Stefen Wisniewski, currently the backup center, or Malcolm Bunche, the second-team left guard, will eventually emerge to challenge Allen Barbre's hold on the starting position between Jason Peters and Jason Kelce.

As Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich noted Wednesday in a radio appearance, new regimes name starters to create order from chaos, but within that order, the players compete and competition can change the order. (Reich was talking about the quarterback position; more on that elsewhere.)

Barbre, unlike many Eagles fans and observers, is not at all surprised that in OTAs he remains the starter at left guard, where he spent all 16 games in 2015.

"If I listened to all the critics, I probably wouldn't (have been) playing five years ago. I've had my ups and downs," Barbre said this week. "But I just keep working hard and plugging away. That's kinda why I'm still here, I feel like."

The Packers were disappointed in Barbre's play when he started seven games for them in 2009, two years after they chose him in the fourth round of the draft, from Missouri Southern. It was five years and three teams later that he got his next start, for the Eagles in the 2014 opener, in which he suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

Then, a year ago, Chip Kelly released Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis, who ended up winning the Super Bowl with Denver. Barbre was his replacement, called "underrated" at the time by offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. Two other unheralded guys, Matt Tobin and Andrew Gardner, tried to replace released Todd Herremans at right guard.

The result was disastrous. Right guard was the focal point, but nobody up front really looked very good for a team that averaged a mere 3.9 yards per rush and gave up 37 sacks.

The Eagles gave Brandon Brooks their richest contract of free agency, five years and $40 million. He will start at right guard. When the team made Seumalo its first draft choice after Carson Wentz, and the only Eagles draftee between No. 2 overall and No. 153, there was considerable speculation that Seumalo might replace Barbre, who turns 32 next month and carries a $1.95 million cap charge this season. The fact that Oregon State is on the quarter system, which makes Seumalo ineligible to practice between rookie camp and training camp, could make that tough.

Wisniewski, signed in free agency, has started all 77 games he has played in the NFL since being drafted by the Raiders in the second round in 2011. He made it clear when he came here that he expected to win a starting job. But right now he is working behind Kelce.

Bunche, who looked good in training camp last year as an undrafted free agent, also thinks he has a shot at starting. Asked about that a few weeks back, he identified left guard as the spot most likely to be up for grabs.

Against this backdrop, Barbre seemed almost an afterthought, until last week, when reporters asked new coach Doug Pederson about him and Pederson said that while the Eagles tried to "shore up that spot" in the offseason, "Allen Barbre is my guy and he's our starter."

Pederson returned the NovaCare locker room to the Andy Reid-era layout, players clustered by position, and as it was under Reid, the five starting o-linemen have a row of stalls at the back right. Barbre is in that group.

"Honestly, I wasn't really worried about that," Barbre said. "I feel like I played fairly decent, if you studied the film, or if you understood what went on. There was a lot of stuff that was tough on the o-line. It made it tough on us. But I feel like I can block anybody in the NFL. That's my approach. I've got to be confident in my game. I can't listen to what other people say about it. Just go with what I can control."

Indeed, if you went just by how players looked last season, Kelce wouldn't be here now, despite having made the Pro Bowl following the 2014 season. Barbre said he thinks teams figured out the Kelly regime's zone-blocking scheme, and often knew what plays were coming. Sometimes he would go to make a block to find there were two defenders, and only one Barbre.

"We ran a lot of 'true empty' protection. That's tough on the o-line, 5-on-5. I think teams maybe figured out some ways to scheme us," Barbre said. "I liked the no-huddle, I thought there were good things about it, it put defenses in a crunch sometimes. I liked a lot of things that Chip did."

Barbre said he thinks the new setup will be less predictable.

"A lot of play action . . . some gap blocking, some zone blocking. It's kind of tough, maybe, (for opponents) to figure it out."

Right tackle Lane Johnson agreed with Barbre's assessment. Johnson said that the line "ultimately failed as a unit," that the "scheme, as well as the (individual) play ended up failing."

"I think this season will put everyone in the best positions, where no excuses will be made," Johnson said.

Camp dates

Eagles rookies, quarterbacks and selected veterans will begin training camp on July 25, the team announced Wednesday, with the rest of the team reporting two days later. The first full-team practice at NovaCare is scheduled for Thursday, July 28, at 3:30 pm.

NovaCare practices are open to a limited number of season ticketholders randomly selected by the team. Most of the practices are scheduled for 8:15 am.

The Eagles have scheduled two open practices at Lincoln Financial Field - Sunday, July 31, at 10 a.m., which will be most fans' first chance to see rookie quarterback Carson Wentz in person, and Sunday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m.

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog