Domo: So far, Eagles' Rowe less than impressive

IT'S EARLY and nothing is set in stone. You don't win jobs after only seven training camp practices and you don't really lose them, either.

But when you're dealing with a new coaching staff that had nothing to do with drafting you and has zip invested in you, well, the sooner you prove you can play, the better.

Which brings us to cornerback Eric Rowe.

Rowe, who was selected by Chip Kelly in the second round of the draft last year, has not had a very good first seven days of training camp, which was preceded by an equally unimpressive showing this spring in the Eagles' OTAs and minicamps.

He has gotten beat far too often. His feet have been slow and his technique has been poor. The confidence he gained in five solid late-season starts last year is AWOL.

Rowe's promising rookie performance was one of the few good things to come out of last season, a season that saw the Eagles give up the third most yards and the fifth-most points in the NFL, along with a franchise-record 36 touchdown passes.

Even with the offseason additions of cornerbacks Leodis McKelvin and Ron Brooks, both of whom played for new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in Buffalo two years ago, it seemed fair to assume in April that the 6-1, 205-pound Rowe would be one of the team's season-opening starting corners come September.

Now? Now, unless Rowe breaks out of the funk he seems to be in and knocks Schwartz's socks off with a terrific preseason performance, he's probably will spend a lot of his second NFL season on the bench.

McKelvin and Nolan Carroll, whose broken right leg last November opened the door for Rowe's five rookie starts, have been taking the first-team reps at corner, with Brooks joining them in nickel packages.

Rowe has been running with the second team, along with rookie seventh-round pick Jalen Mills. But Mills is having a much better camp than Rowe. So, too, for that matter is CFL import Aaron Grymes.

Right here, right now, Rowe is only the team's fifth or sixth best corner.

"He's still a young player," Schwartz said after Thursday's practice. "He's only in his second year. Everybody wants to make him a seasoned vet. He started for maybe a half a year. And he is changing schemes."

Here comes the but.

"But we are also through our OTAs, and we're through our minicamp, and through a week of (training) camp. And we have to start putting those inconsistencies behind us. And I'm not just talking about Eric. I'm talking about every guy on defense."

Schwartz's defense did not have a good day Thursday, and pretty much has been up and down since camp started.

Quarterback Sam Bradford shredded the defense in 11-on-11 red-zone work Thursday.

Schwartz may have an economics degree from Georgetown, but the man can throw more F-bombs around than a hundred dock workers when he's displeased about something.

If I had to guess, I'd say Schwartz has dropped more F-bombs in the first week of camp with the Eagles than he did the entire 2014 season with the Bills, who gave up the fourth fewest points in the league that year.

"You saw what happened today," an irritated Schwartz said. "We'd make a play and give up a play. Make a play and give up a play. That's not a way to play defense. That's not a way to play football.

"We've got to be consistent. And that's the challenge. Our challenge is ironing that out. Not just individually with guys like Eric or any of the other corners. But as a unit we need to be more consistent. I could mention 40 guys over there (on defense) that need to be more consistent."

The only players Schwartz has been completely happy with in the first week of camp are starting safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod.

"When I said we haven't been consistent as a defense, I'm exempting those two guys," he said. "Because they've played very, very consistently. They're great communicators. We need more guys following that suit."

Sixteen of the 39 defensive players on the Eagles' roster are new, including five potential starters or key role players - defensive tackle Mike Martin, linebacker Nigel Bradham and McKelvin, Brooks and McLeod.

There appears to be nowhere to go but up for the defense, but then you look at the scary lack of depth at linebacker and safety and the uncertainty of what you'll get at cornerback, and maybe that's not necessarily the case.

But Schwartz sees light at the end of the tunnel.

"We're getting closer," he said. "Sometimes guys learn from mistakes. Sometimes when you make a mistake, it gets ingrained a little bit and you vow not to make the same one again.

"That's part of training camp. Part of training camp is going out and trial by fire and learning from your mistakes and things like that."

What drives Schwartz crazy is players who repeat the same mistake. Who don't learn from them.

"Everybody's going to make mistakes," he said. "I make a lot. The players make a lot. The key is don't make the same one twice. Learn from it.

"That's what our challenge is. We're probably like 31 other teams in the NFL at this point in training camp. Everybody's striving for the same thing. To be consistent from front to back. Everybody all on the same page. And that allows the guy's talent to show."

@Pdomo

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