NFL: For former Coug, training camp an opportunity

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Bethlehem, Pa. » Almost everybody else has left the field, but Dallas Reynolds is still sweating under the withering summer sun, working on his technique with the other offensive linemen in training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I'm just trying to get in there and compete and see what happens," he said.

Best case?

The former Timpview High School and Brigham Young University star wins a job on the 53-man roster. But for the moment, Reynolds remains a fringe player with relatively slim chances who needs to take full advantage of the grueling preseason routine that more established players often view as a merely a hump-busting formality.

He's hardly the only one, either.

Fellow former Cougars such as quarterback Max Hall with the Arizona Cardinals and fullback Manase Tonga with the Oakland Raiders also will be scrapping for roster spots during the preseason games that begin in earnest this week, along with linebacker Koa Misi with the Miami Dolphins and cornerback R.J. Stanford with the Carolina Panthers -- former Utah Utes in the same situation.

"It's a good chance to show the coaches what you'll do on game day," Reynolds said. "Right now, that's where I get a lot of my time and a lot of my opportunities, so I'm just looking to make the best of it."

The difference for Reynolds is that he has been here before.

While most of the locals fighting for spots in training camp are rookies, Reynolds is in camp with the Eagles at Lehigh University for the second straight season.

The son of BYU assistant head coach Lance Reynolds signed as a free agent last year, only to be cut just before the regular season and then re-signed late in the year, after an injury to starting center Jamaal Jackson. He was activated but did not play when the Eagles embarrassingly lost back-to-back games -- once in the regular season, once in the playoffs -- to the rival Dallas Cowboys.

"It was an interesting ride," Reynolds said.

Reynolds would have loved to have had a job all season, but his time back home in Utah allowed him to be with his wife, Suzanne, when she gave birth to the couple's first daughter. No such bliss is pending, this time, and Reynolds is hoping that he can prove to the Eagles that he's versatile enough to keep beyond opening day next month.

To that end, Reynolds has been working at right guard in addition to center, and coach Andy Reid singled him out early in camp as a player who had looked good.

The injury-ravaged offensive line is one of the big question marks for the Eagles -- third-stringer Mike McGlynn has taken over the starting center duties in camp, with regular back-up Nick Cole injured -- who traded quarterback Donovan McNabb and cast their lot with Kevin Kolb after scoring just 14 points in those back-to-back losses to the Cowboys after Jackson was injured.

"There was a lot of stuff I needed to learn," Reynolds said, "coming from college to the NFL, as far as my technique and a lot of that kind of stuff. Last year was good, and hopefully I can show the coaches that I learned a lot last year and made that next step."

He will get his first chance tonight when the Eagles open their preseason against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Already, though, Reynolds has learned to appreciate his opportunity to follow in the footsteps of his father, who played a season for the Eagles years ago, as did an impressive list of other former Cougars, such as tight end Chad Lewis, running back Reno Mahe and kick returner Vai Sikahema.

"It's kind of cool to go and kind of experience some things that my dad experienced," he said. "Obviously, things are a little different now. But it's neat, and we'll see what little brothers can do, and see if they make it somewhere."

Oh, yeah.

The brothers.

While Reynolds already has an older brother who played for the Seattle Seahawks, his younger brother Matt is a junior with the Cougars who is expected to be among the nation's top offensive line prospects if he turns pro after the coming season. Another brother, Houston Reynolds, is a redshirt freshman at BYU.

"When I was a kid in high school and even in college ... we'd go and we'd have a big ol' feast [on Sundays] and we'd sit down and watch a game and we had some good conversations," Reynolds recalled. "We talked a lot about football stuff at home. It's not so much like a meeting-room atmosphere, but it's a kind of a fun family thing. And we get some work done, and I think it's really benefitted our family having dad as a coach."

How much?

For Reynolds, the next few weeks could tell for sure.