OWINGS MILLS -- The Baltimore Ravens' suspect offensive line resembled a group of teachers trying in vain to prevent children from bolting into the schoolyard for recess.

Bullied, bull-rushed and befuddled, the Ravens allowed six sacks and numerous quarterback pressures during a 13-6 preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. It was a shaky performance that raised eyebrows around the NFL and prompted more speculation that the Ravens need to sign a veteran offensive tackle.

It's a good thing that rookie quarterback Tyrod Taylor is the sturdy sort as he emerged with no injuries despite being sacked five times and getting drilled in the back late in the game.

There were numerous penalties, including an illegal formation call on left tackle Michael Oher that ended one drive.

Whether it was Oher, Oniel Cousins or rookie third-round draft pick Jah Reid, all three of the Ravens' top offensive tackles struggled mightily.

"I definitely went through some growing pains out there," said Reid, who's competing with Cousins for the starting right tackle job. "I definitely have a lot of room to improve. I need to keep the gears in motion and come out this week just looking to get better. And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to watch the film and see my mistakes, my inconsistencies in my techniques that I need to work on."

It was his professional debut, but Reid didn't make any excuses for a performance that included a pair of false starts. At times, though, the 6-foot-7, 336-pounder held his own in single-blocking situations.

"It's my first NFL game and there are going to be some jitters, but football is football," Reid said. "Just because it's my first game doesn't excuse mistakes or having bad plays."

In his second season at left tackle, Oher wasn't expected to have this much trouble against Eagles defensive end Trent Cole, one of the faster pass rushers in the league.

Yet, Cole sacked quarterback Joe Flacco and decked running back Ray Rice for a loss of six yards with Oher missing those blocking assignments.

"I've got to get better from week to week," Oher said. "You have to build on it and learn from it and go get better from week to week. We just have to get it down and be conscious of it and get off at the snap. The first preseason game, the second preseason game, you know where you are game by game by seeing different opponents."

Oher got annoyed after the game when he drew criticism via his Twitter account.

"I'm glad I have skin like an armadillo," Oher wrote.

The Ravens' quarterbacks needed to have thick skin, too.

They were taking a beating out there.

Whether Cousins lined up at right tackle or left tackle, he had problems.

During one sequence, Eagles defensive end Darryl Tapp delivered a double-handed punch to Cousins' chest, knocking him off balance.

Then, Tapp disengaged from the 6-foot-4, 325-pounder and dashed toward Taylor to pummel him to the ground.

"I felt like I did some things pretty good," Cousins said. "I wanted to work on my hands. I've got heavy hands so I wanted to work on my technique with my hands. I thought my hands were overall better.

"I'm just going to try to improve and work on some little things. I'll watch the tape with my coach and move on. They've got some good players. They're pro football players. They get paid just like we get paid."

If neither Cousins or Reid can get the job done at right tackle, the Ravens could shift right guard Marshal Yanda back to right tackle and look to acquire another guard.

Other than the penalty issue, which he acknowledged needs to be cleaned up, Ravens coach John Harbaugh didn't seem alarmed by the offensive tackles' difficulties.

"I think we did OK out there," Harbaugh said with a straight face. "The pass protection was pretty good. A couple of the false starts were a problem, and that's got to be corrected. I thought they did pretty well for themselves for their first time out there."