Eagles Notebook: Jackson confident his knee will withstand test in opener

Dunno how Jamaal Jackson is meshing with his offensive linemates - reporters don't get to watch practice until Thursdays - but Jackson and ex-o-lineman Andy Reid were in perfect sync yesterday.

They think Jackson is ready to play center in the opener Sunday against Green Bay. But they won't really know Jackson is up to the challenge of playing a full game with a 3-4 nose tackle in his face, less than 9 months after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament, until he does it.

"A little bit of that's an unknown," Reid, the Eagles coach, said yesterday. "I'll tell you that I feel comfortable with him, he feels comfortable and the doctors feel comfortable. But I can't tell you that I'm not going to keep a close eye on him; I will do that. And Mike McGlynn and his experience at that center position is important for those first few weeks, here."

McGlynn remains the backup because usual No. 2 Nick Cole is starting at right guard. Moving Cole over, should anything happen with Jackson, would disrupt two positions.

"I feel confident in it, but I still haven't played a whole game; I'll just have to see how I hold up through four quarters of football," said Jackson, who is wearing a brace on his left knee. "Can I get the job done? I guess we'll find out Sunday."

Jackson's presence for the opener seems especially important, because of the center's role in reading the defensive alignment and calling out blocking assignments, and quarterback Kevin Kolb's relative inexperience. This is something Jackson does much better than McGlynn or Cole.

"A lot of times [Jackson] can see things before the quarterback does," said left guard Todd Herremans, who wasn't referring to Kolb, specifically.

"Experience, leadership and knowledge of the game," Herremans said, when asked what having Jackson back provides.

The Eagles are touting the stat that they are 13-3 in the last 16 games Herremans, Jackson and Cole have played as the guards and center.

"It's not like we haven't lined up like this before, and we've been pretty successful when we've done it," Herremans said.

Kolb was the quarterback for only one of those victories. And none of them came with Jackson fresh off ACL surgery.

Reggie Wells, the guard whose acquisition last week from Arizona hastened the trade of Stacy Andrews to Seattle, seemed to be settling in yesterday, familiarizing himself with the exacting specifications of offensive line coach Juan Castillo.