We have seen the invested DeSean Jackson and we have seen the detached DeSean Jackson, and we understand just how different those two players can be.
When he is engaged and confident and feeling the groove, he can be a lethal weapon. A Pro-Bowl caliber difference-maker. When he falls into a funk, his game follows suit.
The good news for Eagles fans is that Jackson has been clear-eyed this spring and summer. He has had a much lighter air about him than in years past and has been generally scowl-free. He seems happy and– most importantly for this team — dialed in.
Michael Vick is 6-1 lifetime against the Redskins. He completed 62 percent of his throws in those seven games (six percentage points above his career average) and posted 10 touchdowns to two interceptions, good for a 110.5 quarterback rating.
Is he just comfortable playing against Washington?
“You’re never comfortable playing any team in this league,” said Vick following Wednesday’s practice. “You could play a team that is 1-14 and you could lose that game easily. I guess I just had some good teams that I was surrounded by at the time and we did whatever it took to win. By no means is the Redskins an easy opponent to beat.”
Vick made it look easy back in November of 2010, when he went off en route to a 59-28 Eagles win. He was 20-of-28 for 333 yards with four touchdowns and scored two more times on the ground. It was arguably the best performance of his 10-year career.
All eight practice squad spots are now accounted for, as the Eagles signed defensive end Brandon Bair on Wednesday morning.
The 6-6, 285-pound Bair played college ball at (you guessed it) the University of Oregon, posting 106 tackles (25.5 for a loss) and five sacks over four seasons in Eugene. He spent some time with the Chiefs and Raiders after going undrafted in 2011 but has not appeared in an NFL game.
Dennis Dixon has practice squad eligibility remaining but the Eagles decided to go in a different direction for now since they are carrying three quarterbacks on the roster.
Linebacker Emmanuel Acho, who originally made the 53-man before being released in favor of Najee Goode, cleared waivers. He could be an option down the road if he stays on the market.
Here is how the rest of the practice squad looks:
Chip Kelly is big on versatility. That is no secret. It has been the big buzzword since he took office. He wants his starters to be malleable, and he insists that his reserves are capable of performing multiple duties.
“When you only have 46 guys active on game day, you’ve got to have versatility in your non‑starters, because there’s just not enough numbers,” Kelly explained. “If you’re two deep at every position, you know, that’s 44 excluding specialists. And at some positions, you’re going to carry a third, a third running back, so where does that spot come from? It’s got to come from somewhere.”
The Eagles will probably make some moves in the near future here, whether it be to fill out their practice squad or tweak their 53-man. We’ll have that all covered. In the meantime, some reading for you on this rainy Labor Day:
The Eagles need to trim their roster down to 53 by 6 p.m. Saturday. The cuts are starting to come in. We’ll be updating this post throughout the day, so continue to check back in for the latest.
(1:10 p.m.) The Eagles announced that they have released the following players:
Teams must trim their rosters down to 53 by 6 p.m. Saturday. Time to submit our final projections for the Eagles.
Sheil will post his take in a bit. Here’s mine:
The preseason is a wrap, all of the evidence is in and now the coaches must decide who to keep and who to let go. The roster must be down to 53 players by 6 p.m. Saturday. Will Danny Watkins make the cut?
By the sounds of it, there are no guarantees that Watkins is on this team at the end of the weekend.
“Danny is competing like the rest of those guys up front. There is always some really good out of Danny, but there is also some mistakes out of Danny,” said Chip Kelly when asked how the lineman has progressed this summer. “It’s going to be a battle. When you feel good about your five but then where are we going to be and how many are we going to carry I think is what it’s going to come down to.”
Join Tim and Sheil for a live chat as the Eagles close out their preseason against the Jets. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at MetLife Stadium.
How do Michael Vick and Nick Foles compare in red zone efficiency? Is Clay Harbor a safe bet to make this team? And could Quintin Mikell be a possible option at safety? We look at this and more in the latest Twitter Mailbag.
Look closely at Thursday’s game against the Jets, and you will see the 2011 Eagles draft class fighting for its life.
Five of the 11 draftees — Jaiquawn Jarrett, Dion Lewis, Brian Rolle, Greg Lloyd and Stanley Havili — are no longer with the team. Jarrett will be on the field Thursday as a member of the Jets, as the Temple product tries to breathe life back into his career.
Two of the six remaining members — fourth-round pick Alex Henery and sixth-rounder Jason Kelce — are safe. The rest, not as much. Casey Matthews and Julian Vandervelde are on the fringe. Third-round pick Curtis Marsh is in murky waters after breaking his hand.
And then there is Danny Watkins.
Kelly has made it known that he will not micromanage Billy Davis and his defense, particularly on game day. For answers about the day-to-day workings on defense, it’s best to ask Davis directly.
But it would be a mistake to suggest that Kelly isn’t plugged into that side of the operation. His fingerprints are all over it.
The Eagles waived/injured outside linebacker Phillip Hunt Tuesday to get their roster down to 75 prior to the 4 p.m. deadline.
If Hunt goes unclaimed by 4 p.m. Wednesday, he will revert back to the Eagles injured reserve list.
The 27-year-old suffered a partially-torn ACL against the Patriots in the preseason opener. He was the fourth Eagles player to suffer a torn ACL this preseason, joining Jeremy Maclin, Arrelious Benn and fellow linebacker Jason Phillips.
The roster must be trimmed to 53 players by August 31.
The team waived/injured cornerback Eddie Whitley on Sunday. They will find out this afternoon if he has been claimed or will revert back to IR.
The last time we spoke with Dennis Kelly, he said that he hoped to be back on the practice field around the start of the regular season and was “very confident” that he would avoid being placed on injured reserve.
On Tuesday he said he was “pretty confident” that the IR is not in his future. And it looks like his return date is still a ways off.
It is number-crunching season in the NFL. Teams are in the process of whittling their rosters from 90 all the way down to 53. By the time the August 31 deadline hits, nearly 1,200 players across the league will have lost their jobs. A reminder that this is a harsh business.
“I think Billy Davis made the point. Billy got cut in his one tryout with the Dolphins,” said Chip Kelly, who didn’t have to deal with anything quite like this in college. “That is the only time you get cut, and you remember that for the rest of your life. We have to do it, that’s part of our job, but I think we were conscious of that. We sat down with everybody [during the first round of cuts]. Our coordinators all sat down with everybody. Our position coach sat down with them. It’s a difficult time.”
