Something happened with the Philly.com coverage of the Philadelphia Eagles on August 26 that editors probably aren’t too fond of. Two veteran reporters, Marcus Hayes and Jeff McLane, wrote articles that essentially said the same thing – the Eagles are in a world of trouble without their still injured starting core. The print titles of their pieces were “Absences looming large for the Birds” and “If starters aren’t ready soon, look out.” On-line titles are never that concise, of course.
Philadelphia Eagles Must Practice With a Week One Starting Quarterback in Mind
Despite different approaches, both writers pointed out in detailed ways what had been obvious in a 5-0 preseason loss to Cleveland: The real team hasn’t even been on the field yet. The real, missing Eagles core, McLane suggests, includes Carson Wentz, Jason Peters, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Jay Ajayi, and Darren Sproles. Shockingly, Hayes came up with a nearly identical list: Wentz, Peters, Jeffery, Agholor, Ajayi, and Corey Clement.
Of these seven players in total, Ajayi has touched the ball 11 times for a grand total of 59 yards; Clement has seven rushes and passes for 32 yards. The rest have not played. And the entire story of the Eagles preseason is their absence, part of the general care with which the Eagles have handled all their players with recognizable names.
As noted, the editors at Philly.com likely weren’t happy with both Hayes and McLane essentially filling up Sunday-paper space with identical messages, but what were they to do? Writing about anything else regarding the current Eagles would have been the equivalent of writing on November 23, 1963, about Nov. 22 being the anniversary of the first Trans-Pacific airmail delivery.
The Ramifications
What does it mean when the Super Bowl champions really don’t play in the preseason? (Oh, OK, Nick Foles has played and, as usual in the preseason for him, badly.) Here’s what the Eagles need to worry about moving forward in rough order of increasing importance.
First, not the New York Jets, their last exhibition opponent: As with many teams, the Eagles will only be trying to sort out a couple of spots on the team – is Sidney Jones the slot corner? Is DeAndre Carter the sixth receiver? No one of the seven above should play even if he feels ready. “Oh, you’re feelin’ good, Alshon? Great. Go over there and work on your technique.”
Jeffery is actually the second concern. He played with a torn rotator cuff all last season. That shoulder was repaired on Feb. 21. So why hasn’t he been ready to go? If he starts the season on the PUP list, he won’t see action for at least six weeks. This means the slack will have to be taken up by Mike Wallace, who’s caught one pass in the preseason, and probably Mack Hollins, a second-year player with no catches and one scant target this summer. Agholor would also become more important.
The third item on the list is Peters. The legendary left offensive tackle is coming back from major knee surgery and must be ready for Week One. Period. His replacement, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, a real contributor in the Eagles Super Bowl season, is “not quite there yet,” to quote McLane. It’s a bit mysterious. After a bad performance against New England, Vaitai said he was “open[ing] up too fast” and unable to correct that the whole game. He might have been worse against the Browns’ Myles Garrett.
Quarterback Sleight of Hand?
Fourth, and very much most important, a game plan for Foles must be worked on now and in earnest as though the Eagles believe in their heart of hearts Wentz likely won’t go against Atlanta Sept. 6. Management should have made that decision by now. If the medical staff clears Wentz between now and the opener, fine. He’ll have to go with the plan as written with a handful of Wentz-talent-based plays thrown in that should be occupying last season’s real MVP at the moment.
No deadline for naming Foles or Wentz the starter has been declared by the Eagles, so presumably, some version of the plan above is being worked on.
The team should, however, be leaning one way or the other as per a current estimation. They should be practicing for Atlanta August 27 and 28, then September 2, 3, and 4 as though they know who will start. As this is typed, there are only five more practices this preseason.
Of course, the Eagles may already know Wentz is going to start against Atlanta, which would render a lot of the above moot – just as useless as the plans Atlanta has to draw up in case Foles is the starter.
