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.