No Panic About Eagles O Line - Yet - as Andre Dillard Exits Early
PHILADELPHIA – Andre Dillard tapped his helmet to let the coaches and trainers he needed to be removed. He was in obvious discomfort.
The play on which the Eagles left tackle seemingly injured himself didn’t look like a heavy hit or anything like that on Sunday morning, but he seemed to be clutching at his upper left side while stretching his left arm in front of his body.
Dillard went to the medical tent and did not return. Right tackle Lane Johnson was listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and he did not practice.
So, the Eagles offensive line tried to get well again Sunday morning, after having Saturday off, and after an ugly end to Friday’s scrimmage, with Jordan Mailata playing left tackle and Matt Pryor at right tackle.
“Offensive lines aren’t good enough to have just five quality starters,” said center Jason Kelce following Sunday’s practice, which may have been the warmest and most humid since phase three of camp began on Aug. 17.
“You gotta really have six or seven guys who can go out there and get the job done. … Hopefully, those backups are counted on for minimal games, but they’re always going to be important at some point during the season.
How well they go in there and get the job done is going to be the difference between wins and losses. That’s a big part of training camp, figuring that out, especially with V (Halapoulivaati Vaitai) leaving (in free agency), and certainly Andre playing now in a full-time role. Who are going to be those guys?”
Rookie Jack Driscoll has caught the attention of some players, including Brandon Graham, and Prince Tega Wanogho has looked freakishly strong for a rookie, but will they be ready for a season that begins in three weeks?
The Eagles hope the five they have counted on since re-signing Jason Peters last month to play right guard will be the starters.
For now, nobody is sweating the offensive line, even after a Friday scrimmage that saw the defensive line assert its dominance.
“I'm not concerned,” said head coach Doug Pederson about his O-line. “It's just the way - it's the ebb and flow of training camp. It's the way things go this time of the year, and our offensive line has been doing a great job. I'm not concerned with what happened there during practice or towards the end of practice.”
Ah, the end of the Friday scrimmage. During the two-minute drill to close the team’s longest and most intense practice of training camp on Friday, the Eagles first-team offensive line was victimized for three sacks in four plays. The second-team line was hit for two sacks in three plays, for a total of five sacks in the final seven plays of the day.
“In the scrimmage (Friday) outside of the two-minute drill, I actually thought the offensive line played pretty well,” said Kelce, “but obviously, it was a horrendous two-minute drill. We gave up three sacks in four plays, probably the worst two-minute drill I’ve ever been a part of, so that’s unacceptable.”
Never one to make excuses, Kelce added: “It’s a little bit harder to tune up five guys working together, tune up a whole offense. One player screws up on offense, and it’s an unsuccessful play.
“Offense is much more of a consistency position, in general, no matter which one you’re playing. This is pretty much par for the course in terms of training camp. You’re gonna have days when the defense gets you.”
Better to get those days out of the way against your teammates than in a game that counts.
The question that won’t go away, however, is can this offensive line play to the level fans have gotten accustomed to the past several seasons with a trip to play the Washington Football Team on Sept. 13?
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