Since the firing of former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo last week, we’ve been waiting for the corresponding shoe to drop on offense.
After head coach Andy Reid’s pronouncement that Mike Vick would remain his starting quarterback and that Marty Mornhinweg would continue to call plays on offense, we knew that no sizable changes were coming on that side of the ball for the Birds.
No, there will be no major, seismic-shift-type changes. But lo and behold, the week after Philadelphia’s bye has produced some shifts, specifically on the offensive line.
The never-ending rotation at left tackle continues with King Dunlap now back to being the starter. Yes, that means that Demetress Bell has been demoted from the position yet again, rightly so after an awful outing against Detroit. CSNPhilly’s Reuben Frank initially reported the change. Many other factors are obviously involved, but the Birds are 2-0 with Dunlap starting at LT and 1-3 with Bell in that role.
The offensive line has been a constant area of struggle for the Eagles this season, starting with the injury to Jason Peters’ Achilles in the offseason. Dunlap’s promotion, which comes after Bell replaced him on the line due to a hip injury, shows that the team is still struggling to get it right.
Philadelphia also made a move on Tuesday to better address depth on the line, which has also been a problem this season. The team announced that backup center Steve Vallos had been released and Matt Tennant was signed.
Tennant (6-4, 300) played with the New Orleans Saints for 28 games in the 2010 and 2011 seasons before heading to New England for 2012. He was released by the Patriots on October 20. Tennant was a 5th-round draft selection of the Saints in 2010 out of Boston College.
To summarize, Tennant will now be the backup to backup Dallas Reynolds, who was the backup for Jason Kelce but became the starter after Kelce suffered an ACL injury. Kelce, by the way, had surgery to repair the tear earlier this week. Hope he gets well soon — he has been sorely missed on the field.
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