The Eagles will continue to shuffle the offensive line for Sunday’s crucial game against the Cincinnati Bengals at the Linc Sunday (1:00 PM CBS).
Because of the injury to Isaac Seumalo, Nate Herbig will start at left guard. Matt Pryor will replace Herbig at right guard. The second year interior lineman played well the first two game of the season filling in for All Pro Brandon Brooks, who is listed as out for the year due to an Achilles injury suffered on the offseason.
The 6-foot-4, 334 pounder was asked on Friday how he feels about the confidence Eagles have in him that they can move him around to different positions knowing he will play well.
“I don't look at it as confidence, I just look at it like, have you prepared the best that you can up to this point?" Herbig said. "So when your opportunity comes are you ready? Or is the opportunity going to be too big? For me it's the same thing every week. I'm going to carry that mindset and that's what got me here, and I'm going to keep carrying it with me every week. It doesn't matter. If I'm confident or too overconfident that's when I get beat. It's when I feel like my back is against the wall and I’ve got to be perfect, I've been locked in. Hear the play, hear the call, the cadence, everything and know exactly what I'm going to do with my footwork before the play. That’s what’s going to help me. I don't think that that's so much confidence as much as preparation.”
Herbig is starting to be requested for zoom calls. He is gaining fans here as he continues to play well. His biggest fans though at far away from Pattison Avenue.
Herbig was asked Friday afternoon if his family in Honolulu get up at 7:00 AM to watch him play.
"I mean, definitely, they make it a whole function over there,” said Herbig, who signed with the Birds as a rookie free agent after not being drafted out of Stanford. “It's not often a kid from the small island gets this opportunity on the East Coast to play for the great Philadelphia Eagles, let alone NFL, so they're, they're super excited and I just hope I can make them proud."
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Linebacker T.J. Edwards, who recorded five total tackles (four solo), one tackle for loss and a forced fumble against the Los Angeles Rams, said on Friday that the players can’t wait to get on the field Sunday against the Bengals and a chance to get the losing taste out their mouths.
“Yeah, I think everyone you know in this building, quite frankly, is just itching to get to Sunday,” Edwards said. “I think there's just so much that we want to put on tape to show that this team is who we think we are. Guys have done a great job of coming together this week having fun and just really excited to get back out there. Because obviously we're not happy with ourselves the past two weeks. So, we want to go out there and put our put our best foot forward on Sunday.”
Edwards was asked how much he misses having fans in the stands.
“Yeah, it's definitely different without them there,” Edwards said. “But I think it really shows, everyone has to bring their own juice and everyone has to come ready to play and bringing energy and with the momentum shifts, guys have got to be out there talking and just keeping things going, because without those fans you kind of lose some of that energy, so we have to do a good job but just always making sure that energy is there.”
Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii