Starters Shouldn’t Play A Snap In Any Philadelphia Eagles Preseason Games

Preseason games are the ultimate tease of the NFL season. We have all learned over the years that training camp is a wash when it comes to learning about a team from a fan’s perspective. But it’s hard not to get up for the first “game” action for the Eagles every year. Well, the time has come. The Eagles are poised to take on the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday in their first preseason game, and you better believe birds fans are chomping at the bit to watch this year’s team take the field. I mean, we tailgated a jersey release for goodness sake.

Well, if you’re one of those ravenous Eagles fans waiting to see the big names make some low-pressure plays over the next couple weeks, I hate to rain on your parade. Even though we want to see Hurts, Kelce, Brown, Smith, Reddick, Slay, and others, the starters should not play a single snap in any of the birds’ preseason games.

Since becoming the head coach of the Eagles, Nick Sirianni has been notoriously conservative when it comes to preseason workloads for his top guys. Training camp has become more like summer camp, and preseason has become more like no season. And it has been absolutely working. The Eagles have had great success under Sirianni, and they have also been remarkably healthy.

I believe we are past the point of coincidence when it comes to that. A lighter workload leads to a healthier team come playoff time, and that was a huge benefit to the Eagles last year in their run to the Super Bowl. If rest is what Nick Sirianni thinks his team needs, then who are we to debate that at this point?

And for that matter, what more do we need to see from the top guys? The Eagles are returning a good number of starters from last year’s awesome season, and the players that are new have solid experience in the NFL. Yes, you have two new coordinators, but that is what training camp is for. Putting another team on the field raises the risk of injury, and while game situations are important to experience for young players, for veterans, it seems that the risk outweighs the reward for the Eagles. I actually don’t mind it at all, for the sole fact that it has worked so well so far in Sirianni’s tenure in Philadelphia. I want to see a healthy team in January, and for that, I’ll gladly watch Jalen Hurts chill in a baseball cap on the sidelines.

In previous years, we had a definite formula for starters in preseason games. Game 1 would be a series, game 2 would be a quarter, game 3 would be a half, and game 4 would be an off night. It was widely accepted across football, and by fan bases. Now, though, with one less game to work with and an extra regular season game to worry about, it has become an inexact science. Different teams have adopted different strategies, and the Eagles have employed one that seems to be working. So I don’t want to see a starter play at all in the preseason. We’ll have plenty of snaps to watch them, both in the regular season and the playoffs as well.

Tonight is the Eagles' first Pre-Season game. At 7 pm, they take the field against the Ravens. it will be the first real look for Eagles fans at this team, outside of an Open practice where the team can control a lot of what you are shown.

But do not expect to see Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Jason Kelce, or other established starters. Pre-season games have featured fewer and fewer NFL starters in the last few years. That is even more true for the Eagles. Last year Hurts threw just 6 passes in the preseason and was in the final of the 3 games. The same goes for most of the other big names. That is just how Sirianni does things. He prefers to go easy on his main guys, keeping them fresh and healthy. And whether you like it or not, it worked. They were one of the healthiest teams in the league last year.

But that does not mean there is nothing to watch. Because while the starters may not see the field, there are a lot of backups worth keeping an eye on. It will be the first chance we get to see who the first guys off the bench will be at each position. The first chance to see some of the guys who are battling for a roster spot. So even though there will be no starters, there is something worth watching, at least in the first half when the second-string guys are in there.

Who has a chance to stand out in the first pre-season game? What player has to have a big game to earn a role on this team? How will the position battles shake out?

This one is obvious. I don’t seem to tell any Eagles fans Jalen Carter is worth watching. He has been the talk of camp, reportedly looking the part of a guy ready to break out in year one. Something that is rare for a DT. It is our first chance though to see him in a real game situation. And if he comes out and is already bullying the middle of the Ravens' O-Line, even if it is just their backups, you are going to have a lot of excited fans around the Delaware Valley.  

Likewise, Nolan Smith is making a lot of noise in Eagles’ camp. Early on beat writers seemed to be telling us about reps he won all the time. His teammates have called him a mini-Haason Reddick.

His speed will stand out. The question is if he can turn it into results. He never quite did at Georga. But production in college is not always what is most important to projecting a guy to the NFL. We have seen plenty of guys have huge sack numbers in college, then flop in the NFL (Derek Barnett). And likewise, there have been guys who did not put up big numbers in college but are great in the NFL. And he certainly has the skillset to be that type of player. 

So far in camp, he has looked great. And we can see if he can carry that into a game tonight.

Eagles fans love a hard-hitting Safety. And Brown has the chance to be that kind of guy. So far in camp there has not been a ton of noise from him. But that may just be because there is not as much hitting allowed in camp practice. Some reporters noted seeing him pull up on plays because he did not want to take his teammate's heads off. 

He does not need to show that same level of constraint in a pre-season game. And if Brown comes out, and tracks down a RB from the other side of the field to make a big hit, there is no surer way to win the hearts of Philadelphians. There was a much hype coming into camp for Brown than there was for anyone. Fans are more excited for him than any 3rd round pick ever. 

The same can be said about Reed Blankenship. But since we have already seen him in real games, and he looked pretty good, there is far less investment in seeing what he looks like in a Pre-Season game. The Eagles could make a statement in how much they trust him if he is among the guys who does not see the field at all. But with the questions at safety, it is likely we see at least a little bit of Reed though.

We thought RG would be a big training camp battle. So far it seems like Cam Jurgens is running away with it. But a game could change things. They will be facing off against guys on the other side likely also battling for their roster spot or role. Seeing how they hold up in real-game situations could be key to seeing which one wins the job. Cam Jurgens has the best shot at it. And from everything we have heard, we should expect him to look good. But RG, regardless of which one of them are in, is something worth keeping an eye on.  Whether it is Jurgens or Steen in there. 

The Eagles brought a lot of WRs into camp. But outside of the guys we already know will be starters, the guy making the most noise is Joseph Ngata. Ngata joined the Eagles as an undrafted free agent shortly after the draft. He was among the highest-paid UDFAs this year. And so far in camp, he has shown why. He has been the standout at camp. Every beat reporter we have had on the station has talked about how impressive he has been. Every Eagles camp has at least one Wr who is the camp darling, and so far it has been Ngata. 

The 6ft3 Ngata joined Clemson as a 5-Star recruit. But never quite lived up to that potential. He scored just 6 TD, caught just 88 passes, and gained only 1,287 yards in 4 seasons there. But the talent and ability is still there. And he has a chance to be the Eagles' 5th or 6th WR if he continues to stand out. And that could start tonight vs the Ravens.  

It’s not often a Punter is a guy you want to watch. But the Eagles' poor play at punter the last couple of seasons has us in that position. Arryn Siposs has not been good. He was at the bottom of the league by every metric you judge a punter by. And that is why the Eagles brought in UDFA Ty Zentner from Kansas State. 

According to the guys on the beat, neither has exactly stood out thus far in camp. But Eagles fans will get a chance to see for themselves if Zentner can supplant Siposs tonight. Hopefully, he can, because I don’t know if I can take another year of Siposs’s poor punting. It is great if punting is your biggest weakness, but it is still a weakness that needs to be fixed.  The easiest fix for that is if Zentner looks good. But if he does not, then the Eagles' best option at punter may be someone not on the team yet. 

Josh Jobe played well enough in camp last year as a UDFA to earn himself a roster spot, but not really a role. But this year he has a chance to be the backup on the outside. In Open Practice, they even put him on the first team in place of an injured James Bradberry. We saw him keep up with AJ Brown, despite giving up the TD. The fact that he was out there with Brown though, shows how much faith they have in him.

Many assumed it would be Kelee Ringo, or Greedy Williams in that backup role. But the 2nd year Corner out of Bama seems to have the first shot at being the main backup.  So it is worth watching how he matches up with the Ravens Wrs tonight. Ideally, we won't see much of a backup CB at all. But Bradberry and Slay could miss time here and there. And if they do, it will be good to know they have a competent backup waiting on the bench to come in. Jobe could be that guy. 

Linebacker is one of the biggest question marks hanging over the Eagles right now. And that is why they brought in both Myles Jack and Zach Cunningham a couple of weeks into camp. Both have been starters at this level before and effective ones at that.

We know Nakobe Dean will be one of the starters. But with an injury, he will not be playing tonight. But we might see some of Myles Jack and Zach Cunningham. They have a chance to be very much like what Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph were for the Eagles last year. If Jack looks like he used to for the Jaguars, it could turn a weakness into a strength.