Pittsburgh a big test for Eagles' rookie linemen

Share

This will be a little different from anything theyve been through so far. Its one thing to play offensive line in the peaceful serenity of training camp, nestled in the bucolic Lehigh hills, with a few thousand supportive fans cheering you on. Its quite another to do it under the deafening roar of a packed stadium far from home.

For the three offensive linemen the Eagles drafted this yearDanny Watkins, Jason Kelce and Julian Vanderveldethe Eagles game against the Steelers Thursday night in Pittsburgh will be their first chance to deal with crowd noise on the NFL level.

Itll be a great learning experience for all of us, said Vandervelde, the rookie fifth-round pick from Iowa. In college, you play on the road all the time, and I played in the Big 10 and played at Penn State, Ohio State, places like that, so its not like any of us are really strangers to noise.

But its definitely good to get this preseason experience with the noise thats impossible to get up at practice and have to go straight into an environment in the regular season where you cant hear anything and you havent had a chance to play in it yet.

It is only a preseason game, but the Steelers expect a near-full houseat least for the startfor their nationally televised game against the Eagles at 8 p.m. at Heinz Field.

This will be an excellent challenge for us, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said. Were playing a great defensive football team, I believe they were No. 2 in the league last year (and first in points allowed), and I believe all 11 are returning, and ... I think nine or 10 of the backups are returning, as well.

So theyre set there. What a great defense. And then you put the crowd noise on top of that. Weve got a great challenge there, a great opportunity as well.

Watkins is the starting right guard, Kelse has been splitting time with Jamaal Jackson at center with the first team, and Vandervelde is a backup guard, mainly on the right side.

Considering that the Eagles first two regular-season games are in domes, in St. Louis and Atlanta, dealing with crowd noise is going to be critical for the Eagles to get off to a good start.

Were going to have road games all year, theres no way around it, Michael Vick said. Its going to be loud, and theyre going to have to get used to it.

Depending on what Andy Reid decides to do at center, theres a chance both Kelce and Watkins will be in the opening-day starting lineup, playing next to each other. And depending what happens at right tackle, theres a chance King Dunlap will be making his sixth NFL start next to Watkins when the Eagles open against the Rams.

The Eagles finish the preseason with a home game next Thursday against the Browns and then a road game one week later against the Jets, although the starters likely wont play in that one.

So Thursday night could be the only dress rehearsal opening day at the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis.

It will be a good for us because we havent really experienced an NFL environment on the road, Kelse said. From an individual standpoint, you dont really notice it that much because youre so in tune to what your assignment is. But from a group standpoint, it kind of hinders things a little bit because the communication isnt where it usually is because theres so much noise you might miss a call or miss something, so its really all about staying locked in as a group.

Pittsburgh is probably going to pack that stadium, even for a preseason game, so itll really be a good experience for us.

Reid said the starters will play the full first half Thursday night, so it will be Watkins longest stint on the field. He and the other starters played only two series in the preseason opener last week against the Ravens.

In college, we all played in big stadiums, so Im not too concerned with it, said the rookie first-round pick from Baylor. Itll be a good experience, but Im not worried about it. Its just a part of the game, something youve got to account for, but its not a huge issue by any means. You plan for it, you practice for it, and then you go out and do it.
E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com

Contact Us