David Molk has played through noise.
In college, he played at Beaver Stadium when his Michigan Wolverines traveled to take on Penn State, where he said it was so loud that if you were standing two feet away from him and he was screaming a play call at you, "you would have no idea what I was saying."
He plays through noise every day at the Eagles' training sessions as head coach Chip Kelly blasts his up-tempo playlist, slinging his players along the fast-paced conveyor belt.
Molk said Kelly's practices can be louder than game situations.
"Sometimes in practice," Molk said, "it's so loud that we can't even hear each other."
It gets especially loud when the Eagles train in the indoor bubble, like they did Thursday.
So when Molk was asked if he was concerned about noise this Sunday, when the Eagles travel to play the Arizona Cardinals, he kept it simple.
"No," Molk answered frankly. "As long as we communicate and pass things along to each other, it shouldn't be any issue."
The bigger challenge for Molk and the Eagles' improving offensive line will be defending against the Cardinals' defensive front seven, which has had an excellent start to the season. Through six games, Arizona has held opponents to 72.5 rushing yards per game, fewest in the league, and are known to run a myriad of different looks on the defensive line.
To succeed Sunday, Molk knows the line will have to be on top of its game to get past defensive coordinator Todd Bowles' unit.
"They put you in a position where you confuse yourself," Molk said, of Arizona's defensive front. "They want you to see ghosts, they want you to pull yourself in a different direction, when you know that you have to stick to what you're trying to get to.
"Really all it takes for us is a little more film study before this weekend, and a better understanding of how they're running things and really how they're going to adapt. Maybe, possibly, what they're going to do for us that's new."
Thursday Kelly praised the offensive line once again for its ability to come together in a rushed situation and perform at a functional, successful level.
After the team's Week 6 win over the Giants, Kelly said Molk was getting noticeably more comfortable with his position and that the center's communication skills stood out.
Molk has started since Week 4 and has performed as well as any backup offensive lineman could be expected to, thrust into a patchwork offensive line charged with blocking for a running back as explosive as LeSean McCoy.
He's not Jason Kelce, but Molk has stepped up in a big way, and Sunday he'll continue his progression along with the rest of the Eagles' offensive line – whether he can hear them or not.
