Eye on the Eagles

By Zach Berman

Over the past two days, there have been some questions left in the comments box at the end of the posts that I wanted to take the time answer.

Leave any comment or question or e-mail me at zberman@phillynews.com and I can ask the player/coach directly to get the answer for you. Here are some from today:

Q: Saw a new name working with special teams. Is Harbaugh gone? What happened to him? Is that as big a loss as it seems from a distance? -- cwolf

A: You're right about a new name. The Eagles have a new special teams coordinator -- Rory Segrest. But Harbaugh is not gone. He's now the secondary coach. When former linebackers coach Steve Spagnuolo left to become the defensive coordinator with the New York Giants, former secondary coach Sean McDermott became linebackers coach and Harbaugh slid over. The move was made to help Harbaugh become a head coach at some point.

I wouldn't say it's necessarily a big loss because Segrest was Harbaugh's assistant last year. So the players are familiar with Segrest and the system. The way practice is conducted isn't altered too much, either.

Q: What are the chances of Todd Herremans replacing Jon Runyan next year with Max Jean-Gilles sliding in at guard? -- tessie omalley

A: It's hard to say. I don't know if this will happen next year, although it could happen at some point. Runyan has two years left on his contract, so he's under contract for next season. He played at a very high level last year and has been remarkably durable throughout his career.

Runyan and William Thomas have been bookend tackles for a long time, although both are on the wrong side of 30 and neither is getting younger. The Eagles draft for the future and they took Winston Justice and Jean-Gilles last season. When I asked offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg about Justice and Jean-Gilles yesterday, he recognized they lose something by not playing in games but discussed the value of training camp and preseason for the duo.

An educated guess of what will eventually happen is the Eagles moving Herremans from left guard to right tackle, have Justice play left tackle and Jean-Gilles play left guard. But this is all down the road and there are many things that could happen between now and then. I don't know when offensive line changes will happen, but they sure won't happen this season. The Eagles are very pleased with their current offensive line.

Q: Every great defense I have ever seen has vociferous hitting linebackers. Does defensive coordinator Jim Johnson believe he can use schemes to replace hitting? -- esmie trasman

A: I don't think any defensive coordinator would try to replace hitting. If the implication is the Eagles had slighter linebackers in the past, that's an accurate statement. Dhani Jones and Mark Simoneau were not known for big hits. The Eagles have become much bigger at linebacker during the past season, which is something Jeremiah Trotter and Johnson have both discussed at length during the past week.

The Eagles' starting linebackers are Trotter, Takeo Spikes and Chris Gocong. All are big linebackers -- especially Gocong. Compare that to last season when Matt McCoy and Dhani Jones started as the outside linebackers, and there is a considerable difference. Trotter and Spikes have both been big hitters throughout their careers. Gocong has yet to play in a game, so it's tough to say with him. But Johnson no doubt recognized the need to get bigger, which is why they drafted Gocong and Stewart Bradley.