Things are happening too fast, but we try to keep up. And this coming weekend of 1,000 cuts around the league should be a hoot, too!
The Eagles tweaked the 90-man roster ahead of tonight’s preseason finale against the Jets with the following moves:
1. Defensive end Steven Means
signed a one-year extension through the 2018 season. He’s been relentless in the preseason with 2.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, and two pass deflections. Means is also a key backup on special teams as well. With this deal, the Eagles have Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry,Chris Long, Derek Barnett, and Means in the fold. Could the Eagles keep a sixth defensive end in second-year player Alex McCalister?
2. The Eagles released Ron Brooks, who was the team’s nickel cornerback in 2016. He suffered a torn quad midway through the season and finished the year on Injured Reserve. He was the nickel cornerback to open Training Camp, but he battled injuries once again. When the team acquired Ronald Darby in a trade, Patrick Robinson took over as the primary slot cornerback. The Eagles also traded for Dexter McDougle, who has inside-outside versatility.
3. Mitchell White, a cornerback who previously played in the Canadian Football League, was waived. The cornerback position was altered dramatically during the draft with the additions of Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas, then again during Training Camp with Darby and McDougle entering the mix.
4. Defensive end Jake Metz was claimed off waivers from the Bills. The name should sound familiar because he suited up in the Eagles’ fourth preseason game a year ago after helping the Philadelphia Soul win the Arena League title. Metz played his college football at Shippensburg. Metz can provide quality reps against the Jets. That is all…
5. The Eagles signed linebacker Carlos Fields, who is with his seventh team since entering the league as a rookie free agent in 2014. He saw regular-season action for the Chargers last year and the Redskins in 2015.
6. Another linebacker, Christian Tago, was added to the roster. He signed with the Falcons as a rookie free agent out of San Jose State following this year’s draft.
The Eagles have their final preseason game tonight (Thursday night) against the New York Jets. PE.com’s live coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. with the Kickoff Show presented by Axalta which you can see on PhiladelphiaEagles.com or the Eagles Mobile App. They’ll have footage of the pregame festivities, a one-on-one interview with defensive line coach Chris Wilson, and Merrill Reese and Mike Quick providing their”players to watch” segment.
The game is set for 7 p.m.
- You can watch the Eagles Network Broadcast with Scott Graham and Mike Mayock in the booth and Dave Spadaro on the sidelines on NBC10… or…
- If you want to hear Merrill and Mike, they will be on SportsRadio 94WIP as well as the desktop version of PhiladelphiaEagles.com.
- NFL Game Pass also provides fans who are out of the Philadelphia market with the ability to watch the preseason games live.
We’ve pretty much boiled down the Eagles’ positions up for grabs tonight for guys on the bubble—extra running back, reserve offensive lineman, maybe a reserve linebacker… starting nickel cornerback…reserve cornerback…extra defensive tackle…perhaps a 6th wide receiver…maybe a dark-horse 4th tight end? It’s even rumored that Donnie Jones’ job as punter is being challenged. Of course, who knows what unexpected trades, acquisitions or releases are going to come along over the next 48 hours? This is still a very fluid part of the season personnel-wise, so don’t exhale just yet.
As for the New York Jets, they look like an unmitigated mess. But Gang Green Nation advises us to be on the lookout for their young wide receivers, specifically rookies ArDarius Stewart and Chad Hansen, who have begun to flash quite a bit. Their reserve defensive front seven have also consistently dominated throughout the first three games. Julian Stanford, Josh Martin and Corey Lemonier are among the front seven members who have made some noise. Rookie running back Elijah McGuire has also seen quite a few big plays wiped away by penalties and could have a big role in this game.
My advice is to just sit back and relax and enjoy an adult beverage whilst you watch or listen to this game. The game doesn’t count for us, but it does mean a lot to the young guys who don’t want to go home this weekend and end up staring at their phones the rest of this summer.
Looking for a new live game Eagles thread?
Our regular commentator and home-run king Ryan Lubrich (aka The Lubricator, aka GSXR Mustang) has created an alternative chat forum for in-game real-time conversation.
It’s on a site called discord.com. Here’s a link to his interesting new talk machine if you wish to give it a look:
As Ryan explains, it’s like a chat channel, primarily used by like-gamers who stream on twitch, but he figured we might be able to use it for gameday chats. I have found it to be very functional and very entertaining. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of some of the buttons and bells, but after a short while I was zooming along with the other EYE guys and Bored members there talking Eagles football.
See you at the Meadowlands!
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