When asked to sum up how he had played in his first NFL preseason game last week, Isaac Seumalo offered a fairly straightforward answer.
“Like crap.”
Pardon?
“I’m always a hard critic on myself, so the best you’ll get out of me is, ‘I played alright.’ I didn’t play well, I know that. I got to play better, but it’s things I can fix.”
Anyone who watched the Eagles’ win over Tampa Bay in the preseason opener knows that Seumalo’s assessment isn’t off the mark. All of the second and third-string offensive linemen struggled mightily to protect Chase Daniel and Carson Wentz, but due to circumstances that are out of his control, the rookie is receiving a promotion.
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Now that Lane Johnson is staring at a 10-game suspension, the rookie third-round pick out of Oregon State has to fix things quickly. With veteran Allen Barbre moving out to right tackle in Johnson’s place, Seumalo has settled in at left guard.
And despite some of the obvious rookie mistakes, the coaching staff sees talent in Seumalo, just not consistency.
“When you see a young guy who has the physical ability and smarts that he has, it really shows up on film,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “He’s an explosive athlete for an offensive lineman. And when he’s right on the film, it’s eye-catching.”
The next step in the rookie’s development is to be “right” more often. For his part, Seumalo seems to at least understand what he needs to improve on.
“When you’re consistent, you’re reliable,” Seumalo said. “And when you’re reliable, coaches don’t have to worry about you. It makes their job easier, it makes your job easier.”
Seumalo is a bit of an interesting case. Back in June, the 22-year-old wasn’t able to attend minicamp because of an NFL rule that states a drafted player’s school must be done for the year for them to participate. The Eagles (specifically offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland) tried their best to use technology to keep Seumalo in the loop, but he still wasn’t getting any on-field reps.
Fast forward a couple of months, and Seumalo has been thrown right into the fire, even after the late start.
“I’m caught up but not where I want to be,” Seumalo said. “Just like everybody, I don’t think anybody is where they want to be by the second preseason game but relatively I think I’m in a good spot.”
It’s not just the linemen that are going to have to pitch in to make up for the absence of Johnson. The first team played well on Thursday (albeit on only three plays), and one of the best blocks of the night was thrown by tight end Zach Ertz:
Billed as a receiving tight end coming out of college, Ertz has worked hard to improve as a blocker. And with Johnson suspended, he understands that the Eagles might count on him to help the linemen more, whether it’s in run blocking or pass protection.
“With injuries and pending suspension and everything like that, I got to do whatever the offense needs,” Ertz said. “And if that’s catching as many balls as possible or if that’s chipping on every pass protection, I’m not going to be the one deciding that but I can’t get mad if I’m not getting the ball because I got to help out the offensive line.”
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