Tuesday’s classroom session wasn’t very encouraging for Matt Tobin’s ego. He spent much of those minutes watching film of Rams defensive linemen turning him around.
“Yesterday's meetings weren't that fun,” the Eagles’ young left guard said Wednesday after practice. “I just don't like watching myself do bad.”
Tobin, the touted second-year lineman from Iowa, made his second career start in Sunday’s six-point edging of the Rams. He didn’t exactly sparkle, allowing several hurries, a few that led to quarterback Nick Foles being picked up off the turf by his teammates.
Tobin is still pushing through an ankle injury from the preseason finale that kept him sidelined and inactive for the first few weeks of the season. The ankle isn’t yet 100 percent.
But he insisted that the mending ankle isn’t responsible for the plays on tape that he could barely watch in Tuesday’s offensive line meeting.
“I would've done that if I had a healthy ankle,” he said. “I was just a little bit off on my technique.”
Tobin, who made the team last year as a rookie free agent, made enough impressions his rookie year that several teammates pegged him as a potential breakthrough performer this season if one of the offensive line starters went down with an injury.
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So far, right tackle Allen Barbre, left guard Evan Mathis and center Jason Kelce have already missed games, and will miss several more, with injuries. Right tackle Lane Johnson served a four-game suspension to start the season.
Tobin’s ankle injury delayed his entry into the starting lineup and NFL debut until the Eagles' loss to the 49ers. He played OK against San Francisco but struggled with footwork and technique against the Rams, who play a completely different style of defense.
The Niners play a two-gap front that engages their defensive linemen with the offensive line. The Rams prefer a one-gap system in which defensive linemen shoot through spaces between the offensive linemen.
“It's going against two different types of players,” Tobin said. “[Niners defensive end] Justin Smith just wants to run you over, so maybe that kind of got me leaning, because I was getting away with it going against him because he was trying to run me over on every play.
“And then the Rams' guys, that No. 99 (rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald), he wouldn't ever consider running anybody over. He was going around me every time.”
Tobin should expect a similar front from the Giants, who run a 4-3 scheme under coach Tom Coughlin with gap-penetrating defensive tackles, including former Eagles Mike Patterson and Cullen Jenkins.
“Once you play against guys you learn some more things about them than you learn just watching film,” said Mathis, one of Tobin’s biggest advocates going back to last season. “This is his first four starts and he’s just getting his feet wet. Every day is just a growth opportunity. Experience goes a long way in this league.”
Tobin’s struggles against the Rams could have prompted the coaches to rethink their decision to start him immediately coming off the ankle injury and send Dennis Kelly back to the bench.
Dennis Kelly had started two games at left guard and one game at right guard after Barbre, Mathis and Kelce went down, but Chip Kelly said Tobin has shown improvement and just needs to keep playing so his upside can develop.
“I think Matt's improved,” the head coach said. “Again, I think part of it is coming off the ankle injury. He probably wasn't 100 percent healthy, but he's such a tough guy. He's going to go out there and give you everything he's got.
“I think he's improved from game one to game two. He's still got a wealth of experience that he needs to get under his belt and the only way you're going to get him that is if he plays.
“His understanding, his knowledge, I think he's a pretty smart football player. He's probably a little bit more athletic, I think, than Dennis at certain times. Dennis is probably a bigger, more drive-blocking forceful type of guy than Matt, but I think Matt's a little bit more athletic than him. So that’s kind of what separates those two guys right now.”
Tobin will start his first nationally televised game Sunday night against the Giants, who have won three straight and always field an attacking defensive front.
Another repeat effort like the one against the Rams could be catastrophic for an offense that’s already struggling to run and connect on downfield passes.
“It's a big game. Big game for me to play well, too,” Tobin said. “Big game for the team, big game for me.”