Eagles’ Isaac Seumalo is the clear favorite at right guard, but he isn’t taking it for granted

Shortly before the Eagles’ first padded practice of training camp, Isaac Seumalo took a moment to reflect.

The Eagles offensive lineman had spent the better part of the last 10 months working back from a Lisfranc foot injury and had just finished putting his pads on for the first time since going down on Sept. 27th.

Sitting in the locker room, the gravity of the moment hit him.

“I just took a second to really appreciate the ability to just play football again,” Seumalo said. “... When you get injured and are away from the game, it puts everything into perspective.”

The indication going into training camp was that Seumalo would have to compete for the starting right guard spot, but he cemented himself with the first-team offense almost immediately. The 28-year-old switched to right guard because of the budding chemistry between Landon Dickerson and Jordan Mailata on the left side. The two linemen played together during the second half of last season and flashed potential to be a dominant, imposing tandem.

Seumalo hadn’t spent meaningful time at right guard since his rookie season, but he said he’s welcomed the adversity that comes from the new position.

“I try to embrace these kinds of challenges,” Seumalo said. “Switching sides, coming off a bad foot injury, this and that. Coming out and, I think, the last two weeks I’ve been performing at a really high level.”

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson said the two are making progress building timing and rapport now that they’re working alongside one another.

“I’ve played with him, I just haven’t had him on my side of the ball a whole lot,” Johnson said. “He’s getting used to the right guard position, but with every practice and every rep, I feel like the continuity is going to grow and our chemistry is going to grow.”

Jalen Hurts spent the offseason working on his mechanics and diving deeper into Nick Sirianni’s scheme, and his position coach said the benefits are tangible.

“I see improvement to his game,” said Eagles quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson. “He’s continuing to make strides each and every day throughout the course of training camp and just working on everything.”

Johnson, a former standout quarterback at Utah, has known Hurts since he was a teenager. He told reporters Saturday that the 24-year-old’s time spent honing his mechanics with throwing gurus in California this offseason has shown in how he’s thrown the football during training camp.

“I think the biggest thing is you get a chance to see what works for you individually,” Johnson said. “When it comes to the kinematic sequencing of your body, everybody’s body works differently. I think this was the first time for him, he got a chance to really invest in that and you can definitely see a tangible difference for sure.”

Hurts is entering his second year as the Eagles’ full-time starter, but has yet to prove he’s the long-term answer at the position. He’ll be eligible for a contract extension at the end of this season as well.

Even with so much intrigue about whether Hurts can take the mantle as a “franchise quarterback,” Johnson said Hurts’ steady demeanor doesn’t lend itself to feeding into the dialogue that surrounds him.

“We’ll leave all that to everybody else,” Johnson said. “That noise, at the end of the day, really has no effect on anybody internally. This thing is about him becoming the best player that he can be, him maximizing his potential and maximizing his opportunity.”

All through the offseason, Eagles punter Arryn Siposs was searching for the wind.

The 29-year-old Australia native struggled once the weather turned at the end of last season, sparking an emphasis on consistency in all conditions for him this offseason.

He spent most of the offseason training near Philadelphia, but even when he spent some time in Melbourne, Australia, he would find fields with the most blustery conditions.

“Every opportunity to go out there when it was windy, I took it,” Siposs said. “... Everyone lives on the coast down in Australia. The wind comes off that bay, that was the only way I could improve.”

It’s safe to say Siposs is fighting for the punter job even though the Eagles didn’t bring in another punter to challenge him during camp. If he struggles during the preseason, the team could end up searching the waiver wire.

Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay told reporters Saturday that he wanted to see Siposs improve his steadiness on and off the field.

“Just being more consistent,” Clay said. “Especially in everything he does. Whether it’s plus 50, whether it’s working out, whether it’s just being consistent in life. I think he’s done a great job of that when we’ve asked him to go out there.”