It’s not an offensive line as much as a game of musical chairs and nobody is quite sure who will be where when the music stops.
The Eagles go into Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins with a couple of big question marks along their O-line, and it all revolves around the health of RG Danny Watkins, who missed the past three games with a chronic ankle problem.
Watkins practiced this week and is expected to start. He’s listed as questionable, which means there's a 50-percent chance he’ll play. If he does, the starting line will have King Dunlap at left tackle, Evan Mathis at left guard, Dallas Reynolds at center, Watkins at right guard and rookie Dennis Kelly at right tackle.
But if Watkins is a late scratch or the ankle problem flares up during the game, then there are a couple of options. One would be to keep Kelly at right guard, where he started in Watkins’ absence, and play Demetress Bell at tackle even though Bell’s poor play is why Kelly has been working at right tackle this week.
Or the Eagles could keep Kelly at right tackle and play recently-signed Jake Scott, a seven-year veteran who hasn’t played all year and has had just three practices with his new team. Coach Andy Reid said Scott is familiar with the line play because it’s similar to the system used in Indianapolis, where he played for four seasons.
Reid isn’t saying what he will do and one gets the idea that even he doesn’t know right now.
Kelly, a fifth-round draft pick from Purdue, said he got most of his work this week at right tackle, but he doesn’t mind if he stays at guard.
“I’ve mentally prepared myself to play either one, so it doesn’t matter to me,’’ Kelly said Friday.
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Philadelphia Eagles from blogger Kevin Noonan, follow@CBSEagles.
