Daily, August 28th: EAGLES GAME DAY! Previewing Eagles vs. Bengals Preseason Finale

What's going on, everybody? And good morning! Today is Friday, August 28th, and this is your daily Go Birds morning update, giving you all the Eagles news you need to know, as well as what to keep an eye out for today. And happy Friday, and yes, it is a happy Friday, because today the Eagles play a football game. Training camp might be over, which is, you know, hashtag sad, but we do get one more game tonight before the real thing kicks off in just over two weeks, which is pretty exciting. And I know people will say, oh, it's a Friday night, it's a preseason game, it's the final one, nobody's gonna play. Here's the deal. We get 20 Eagles games a year. That's what we're guaranteed, 20 Eagles games. Two of them are already gone. We're only down to a guarantee of 18 more Eagles games. And after tonight, it'll be 17. Boom, just like that, time flies by, three games gone. So I get it, it's a Friday night. You wanna go do something super fun. I get it, trust me. But it's lock-in time, lock-in time. Because tonight, while it again, is the third pre-season game, it's super important for people like us, people that study the roster every day, people that follow training camp practices, people that do 53-man roster predictions. Tonight is our night. Tonight is the night for us to make our final decision. So, in this pod, we'll be going over the 13 players I believe are competing for 5 final roster spots. Obviously, it could be more than that. I think there's 48 spots locked up. But we will be looking at the 13 players I think are in competition for those final 5 roster spots. But before we do, let's get the pod started like we always do. On the schedule for tonight, 8PM, Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals. We can talk about playing a faceless opponent, right? They could be playing any team tonight. It could have been the Steelers, the Ravens, the Jets, any teams, the Dolphins, the Browns, and I would believe it. Who they're playing tonight, it might never be more relevant who they're playing than in this game tonight. Tonight is completely about the Eagles. You could fill the Bengals roster with 53 random players, and I don't think many people would notice. So they're playing the Bengals, but really tonight is about the Eagles versus themselves when it comes down to roster spots. So 8 o'clock tonight, the Eagles and the Bengals. Now, in addition, we got a day full of stuff. I'm on the afternoon show today. Me and Ike Reese, yes, it's a football guys show on the afternoon show from 2 to 6 p.m. And then we got the pregame show, and we put a little more football guys there. Joe Giglio, Hugh Douglas, some special guests. So yeah, the game tonight, the final score might not matter, you can't tell me talking Eagles football from 2 p.m. to basically midnight isn't going to be exciting. Sign me up. That's how I want to spend my Friday. So that is what is on the schedule for today. As for the injuries, again, we won't really find out much today. This is more, we'll get a better idea of injuries next week when the team returns to practice, see who's practicing and who is not. The main one to look out for next week is probably Markelle Bell, see if this is actually something that's costing him time or if they're just easing him up as training camp ends. Now, I will say, McKay Lemon expected to play tonight. It seemed like that at least in the last practice we were in. So it will be exciting to see McKay out there, see him get the ball, see what type of ways they want to use him, see him in an Eagles uniform in a game for the first time. And man, wouldn't it just be such a vibe changer for this camp and the idea of Lemon having a bad camp and the passing off and struggling? And I don't know if you've heard this, but Jalen has 13 interceptions. So wouldn't it be a vibe change tonight if McKay-Lemon caught a legit touchdown? Like if McKay-Lemon caught a 60-yard touchdown or a 35-yard catch and run touchdown. So I don't expect that to happen, honestly, just cause I don't think we're gonna be seeing like an offensive outpouring tonight from either teams, but it sure would be an exciting way to spend Friday watching McKay-Lemon go out and do his thing. So we'll be looking for McKay-Lemon as well as, when we'll talk about him, the 13 players that are competing for a roster spot. But there is a little bit of news, as the Eagles made a minor move at receiver on Thursday, as they cut Brandon Hayes and brought in Taj Washington. Washington, a seventh round pick by the Dolphins in 2024, spent all of last year on Ninja Reserve before being waived earlier this week. So he's not gonna be on the 53, obviously, but the only takeaway I'll have from this is Washington is 5'10, 165 pounds. They clearly have a type at receiver this off season, and that type is undersized, small, but Washington is not even fast. He ran a 4'5, 2, which I think is right around what Mackay Lemon ran, if I'm not mistaken. So you think Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore, Mackay Lemon, Darius Cooper, they got an undersized receiving unit. I mean, Devontae is one of the biggest receivers they have. And while Devontae, it's almost irrelevant to talk about his body size at this point, because we know he's a great receiver. Devontae is also a receiver that is not exactly, you know, beating up opposing big corners. So yeah, they got a small receiving unit. It would not surprise me to see them go out and add a bigger receiver between now and week one. There's going to be the waiver wire, guys are going to get cuts, there's going to be trades. So I would keep an eye out for moves being made for a bigger sized receiver. Add a 6'3 guy to the roster, get some size in that receiving unit. But before we get into the players that are competing for roster spots tonight, there was a very interesting article that was published on Thursday by Yahoo Sports, NFL reporter Jorie Epstein, who does an unbelievable job. She comes by camp every once in a while. She's at the Eagles sometimes, always finds interesting things. And the article is titled, As Eagles adopt more aggressive offense, Jalen Hurts not afraid of making mistakes. So there's a bunch of stuff in there, but there was three quotes that really stood out to me that I wanted to talk about. So the first one, and you can see it in that header there, Jalen Hurts not afraid of making mistakes. So Jordan Milata spoke to Jorie as part of this article, and he said, quote, everyone's talking about all the picks and stuff, but it's not about that. Sorry, I completely botched this reading. So rewind, quote, everyone's talking about all the picks and stuff, but it's not about that. Is he executing what coach is trying to get him to do? And he is. And I think before he would be a little hesitant to be like that, but now there's no fear. This year, he's not afraid of making mistakes. When you're learning something new, that's how you have to be. You have to have thick skin, end quote. So a bunch of interesting things in there. First, everyone's talking about the picks and stuff. I don't know who's talking about the picks. Kidding, bad joke. Yes, the interceptions have been talked about a lot. But I think what is interesting when he talks in here is he says he's executing what coach is trying to get him to do. And then he says, I think before, he might have been a little hesitant to be like that. And so I think that quote right there is pretty telling. Like, you can hear my law to say, he's executing what the coach is trying to tell him to do. And again, then he follows it up. Like he might have been hesitant to do that. So it speaks to maybe in the past, Jalen not wanting to do certain things the coaches wanted to do. Maybe not wanting to do certain things he's not great at. And again, I understand that, right? Like it's not a fun thing as a pro athlete to try something new that you're not really great at in front of a bunch of other pro athletes with millions of people watching and reporters like me tracking every stat. I get that, right? But it's encouraging to hear that my law thinks Jalen is doing that. So yeah, I think it's a good quote from my law and he says here, when you're learning something new, that's how you have to be. You have to have thick skin. Jalen definitely has thick skin, right? He might be aware of what people are saying. I think he does use his motivation, but he definitely does have thick skin. So what you've seen in camp is Jalen has run the new offense. Jalen is playing from under center. He is doing play action. And it seems like he's doing, in my opinion, good jobs at parts of it. The turnovers, definitely, definitely too much. I know my law says it's not about that. We'll see, we'll see if it's not. We'll see if Jalen doesn't throw a ton of interceptions in camp. But hearing my law to say that Jalen is doing what the coach is trying to get him to do, and maybe that's something he wasn't as into before, I think is a very good sign. It does speak to, if you remember, Jay Glazer had that quote or that report maybe about two weeks ago, saying that he was talking to people in the building that were maybe critical of Jalen in the past, that are now praising him. I think there were people on the team that were frustrated about how Jalen did things. Eric Gunn, you remember, was saying that Jalen would change the play in the huddle all the time. Jalen would kind of freelance. And now it sounds like he's truly just executing the offense. So that is a good thing to hear. Now, I still think they should call plays to Jalen's strengths. I still think they should make the offense so it's about Jalen and not about just trying to run a specific offense. But I still think it's good to hear that he is doing that. Now, the next quote also about the offense and Jalen was from Tanner McKee. So Tanner McKee said, quote, we always talk about rhythm and tempo and getting through a progression. In this offense, we're not counting on one guy to be a winner. If the route's not there and the defense took it away, well, then we have a good backside concept that's going to compliment. So just being able to get through a progression, that he was able to do that last night actually at the stadium practice that I thought was great. That he was able to do that last night actually at the stadium practice, which is just weird phrasing. I don't think I'm misreading there. That he was able to do that last night actually at the stadium practice, that I thought was great, end quote. So look, Tanner McKee, and we had him on the players' lounge last year. Like he is very aware of what the offense is asking of the quarterbacks. He's expected to learn what the offense is teaching the quarterback. And it's awesome to hear him say that, you know, he thought Jalen is doing a good job going through his progressions. I also thought in there, you know, there's a little thing about last year. We're not counting on one guy to be a winner. We're not counting on AJ to get open. They're not counting on Devontae to get open. They're going to have to scheme these guys open. Now I think you'd rather have receivers you can just count on to get open. And Devontae, you know, presumably can still do that. But Wicks, McKay Lemon, Hollywood Brown, Darius Cooper, Elijah Moore, like these guys, they're going to have to scheme them open. So it's important that Jalen is listening to the coach and doing what the coach is asked of of the play, because that's going to be how he's going to get open, right? There can't be any, hey, I'm audible-ing, and AJ, you run a deep route, because I know you can do that. Like, you can do it with Devante a little, and you could try to do with other guys, but it's not going to be as effective. So to hear that there's other answers in the offense, there's a good backside concept he can go to if needed, like, yeah, it'll be about Jalen going through his progressions, deciding what to do, checking the ball down if needed, and nothing's there. And it sounds like, at least from Tanner McKay's perspective, Jalen's doing a pretty good job of that. So the final quote that I found noteworthy in there, and again, it's a good article, so there's a lot that was noteworthy in there, but it's Nick Sirianni. So Nick Sirianni says, quote, You have a number one receiver in Devante Smith who we've always believed has been a number one receiver. You have Tay Wicks, who I think has great qualities of a wide receiver. I always think that my ideal receiver in the NFL, before I look at speed and before I look at anything else, has play strength and body quickness to get in and out of breaks. And this guy has elite of both. Then he goes on to say, Brown and Elijah Moore will be tabbed at further speed, while Darius Cooper will step up for dirty work, Sirianni said. So the dirty work part is Sirianni. That first part is just being written. So here's what I think is interesting about that. And look, it's awesome to hear what he's saying about Dontevi and Wicks, right? That they obviously like Wicks a lot. They traded for him, they paid him. They feel he is going to be a good player in their offense. We know they're high on Devante. Now, you know, this article was written by a reporter. This is not Sirianni writing this. So it's possible he said something about this player and it didn't come up or, you know, or it wasn't included or maybe, you know, the reporter didn't think it was interesting. But it's a little surprising that he talks about Devante. He talks about Dontevi and Wicks. He talks about Hollywood Brown. He talks about Elijah Moore, talks about Darius Cooper. It doesn't bring up McKay Lemon. And I'm not trying to make a huge deal out of this. But you would think that when he was breaking down why he's excited about the unit, he would talk about McKay. And you would also think, and Jory Epstein does an awesome job, that if it was about talking about the first round pick that Jess had returned to practice and is very newsworthy, that would be included. So what I think from this is twofold. One, it's just interesting you didn't say McKay. Just interesting. But two, it's interesting that he clearly has very specific roles for everybody. Devontae Smith is the one. Dantavian Wicks is the two. Brown and Elijah Moore will add speed. Darius Cooper will do the dirty work. So Brown and Elijah Moore, we know Hollywood Brown is going to make the team. Elijah Moore, we've talked about him a bunch on this pod. Probably talked about him too much. But Elijah Moore, I think here, clearly has a role. So maybe Elijah will be on the team. Maybe Elijah will be the 53rd player that makes it. Or maybe Elijah will be on the practice squad and promote it. But I just thought it was interesting that he talks about Elijah, doesn't talk about Mackay at all. You know, like maybe, you know, slipped the mind, but sometimes I think it's telling when coaches go through these lists about like where their natural instincts are to talk about something like what just is top of mind for them. And Mackay not being there, maybe it shows like all these other guys have roles and Mackay, they're just going to kind of fit into the offense or, you know, maybe force into the offense when they have the chance to do so. All right. On the other side, I think there's five roster spots up for grabs, and we are going to talk about them on the other side. But first, a word from our sponsors. All right. So it's the final day for players to go out and impress the coaches. Cuts will be made by Sunday. We should probably hear from Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman around then about the final roster decisions. But yeah, 24 hours from now, pencils down, all the final 53-man roster projections are due. Because you can't be putting them in late Saturday. There could be moves made, guys are cut. Got to do it early in the day on Saturday or very late Friday night. In fact, for the beat writing competition, where all the beat writers try to predict who they'll get to the 53-man roster, it's due by Saturday at 5 a.m. So it is pencils downtime by the time you're listening to this. And I will say, I would very much like to win it. I've never won it. I've come close before, but I feel like if I'm gonna be the king of training camp, I gotta win this thing one time. The reason I don't win it, honestly, I think, it's cause I overthink things. I can never just stick to what I believe, which is funny, cause I'm actually very good at sticking to a take. But I always talk myself in like, well, maybe they'll do this, or maybe they'll do this. And I end up like Thursday, and you'll see in the Daily Bird, I spend time convincing myself stone smart could be on the team. I am incapable of not convincing myself into doing something they don't end up doing. I actually would love one year to do the 53 man roster at the beginning of camp and just submit that. Maybe I will do that. I'm sure I did one before the start of camp, but I probably won't because I like to overthink and I like to make decisions like this. So let's look at the 13 players that I think are fighting for a roster spot tonight. So let's start at quarterback with Andy Dalton. So we've done the quarterback competition thing. We've talked about the quarterbacks. I think Tanner McKee will be traded or on the team. I don't think they're going to cut him. But I will put Tanner McKee on my 53-man roster. The only way I think Andy Dalton is on is if Tanner McKee crushes it tonight, Andy Dalton crushes it tonight, teams want to trade for either of them, especially Dalton, the Eagles decide to call their bluff and hold Andy Dalton through the initial 53-man roster. I don't think they'll do that, but that's the only way I could picture him getting on it. So won't have him on my 53, but maybe if he plays really well tonight, I will convince myself and make a bad decision and put him on my roster. After that, Elijah Moore, again, we talked about him just a few minutes ago. I think Elijah has played really well. I think he's been the best receiver in camp and I think they need him week one. So, but it's not Nick that makes a 53. It's not Vic Fangio that makes a 53. It's Howie Roseman that makes the 53. And Howie could very well say, you know what, like, I think I'd rather keep Joshua Wairoo, we'll talk about in a second, over Elijah Moore, because Elijah Moore, I can just sign to the practice squad and I can promote and I can eventually put on the 53 if needed, but I don't want to put a certain player through waivers. So Elijah Moore could not be on the 53. I'm gonna put him on just cause I, see, here I go questioning myself again. I'll probably put him on, but I do think he will be in uniform week one for the Eagles is my prediction. Next up, Cam Latou, the tight end that we all think could play fullback, but didn't do it all in training camp. When they did do fullback packages, Johnny Munt was out there. So maybe they don't view Latou as someone that's able to do that. He can be a good special teams player. He's a decent pass catching option. My argument for StoneSmart since I tease at last and we're talking tight ends, is they signed StoneSmart in the first two weeks of free agency. He has a similar body to Elijah, Eli Stowers, only I think he's like honestly bigger stronger. And maybe with Eli Stowers not being able to play the role they expected and not having any great receiving options behind Dallas Goddard. They say, you know what? StoneSmart can be a good receiving option. He's been more involved in the passing game over the past few weeks. And maybe StoneSmart ends up making the team like they did target them in the first two weeks of free agency, which means they spent time doing homework on them. They spent time, you know, obviously recruiting him. So maybe StoneSmart makes it. I still have him as a long shot, but I still, you know, maybe there's a shot he gets there. But Kamla II, I had on my 53. The fact that doesn't seem like they think he can play fullback is a little concerning. But Kamla II, big game tonight, like receiving, shows some stuff. He's athletic, used to play at Alabama, good special teams player, I think could find his way onto the 53. So this next guy, only I seem to think he can make the team. And so maybe that's a bad sign for him. But Jake Majors to me, checks all the boxes of someone they should keep. Young player, was on the team all last year on the practice squad, can play guard, can play center, has played well, and is getting a ton of reps in camp. He got a ton of reps. He can see all the second team reps. So with Cam Jergens, we'll see how his back feels. With Landon Dickerson, we'll see how he makes through the season. I don't know, risking Jake Majors to waivers, I don't think he gets claimed. But what if he is awesome tonight, and the teams die for offensive line depth, decide that they do need to claim him, and they do want to take a chance on him. So Jake Majors is somebody I think could earn a roster spot tonight. After that, Cam Williams, I don't think, has done anything to earn a roster spot in training camp. He hasn't played well, he hasn't been good in the pre-season, but he was a draft pick the year before. He does have special athletic qualities. I do think he's in better shape than he was last year. And he was, and this matters, he has that tag of was gonna be a high prospect, but fell in the draft, and that's enticing to teams. So Andy plays an important position on offensive tackle. I don't think I'm gonna put him on my 53, but I do think Cam Williams is still competing for a roster spot. And that's all on the offensive side of the ball. I don't think there's a ton of guys on the offensive side of the ball fighting for spots. I think at this point, it's basically decided. It's just a few key backups. On defensive line, you have Gabe Hall, or defensive tackle, I should say. Gabe Hall and Zion Wilson. Gabe Hall has, I think has been, like, they've liked him. They held him through 53 man. They held him through the 53 man roster. Last year, Zion Wilson, they gave a decent amount of money to for a UDFA. Zion Wilson is somebody that can play a nose tackle type if he needs to. So, I think, I don't think either will make the team, but Gabe Hall, I'm sorry, Zion Wilson could be a don't want to put him through waiver guy. At edge, there's AJ Eponessa. So, I think AJ Eponessa is going to play week one for the Eagles. And if he doesn't play tonight, I could see an initial reaction being like, oh, well, he's made the team. But I think him and Elijah Moore potentially could not suit up because they want them week one, be cut and put on the practice squad. They're veterans, they probably don't need to be playing in the final preseason game. But AJ Eponessa, I think, is a tricky one in terms of will they keep him on the 53. And then there's Joshua Wairo, someone who I didn't think we would be talking about as a roster spot, someone that seemed like a definite practice squad guy, but then went out and put good tape out for 31 other teams to see. Upside, just learning football, the Eagles liked him, like he is a player that could get claimed. So I'm gonna put Wairo on my final 53, but I definitely think it's a shocker. He's like definitely somebody I think that has pushed his way up more than I think anybody expected. At linebacker, there's Chance Campbell, and honestly, he's only on there because Vic Fangio said he likes him. But like, is anyone claiming Chance Campbell? Is anybody actually gonna use a 53 man roster spot on Chance Campbell? He didn't play all last year. I think he's been fine in the preseason. He hasn't anything to like really stand out. The best thing going for him is Vic Fangio saying they like him, honestly. So I think Chance Campbell can get through to the practice squad. I don't think I'll put him on a 53, but when Vic says he likes you, it's worth mentioning as a potential roster spot. Then in the secondary, I actually think Corner is pretty set. Like Vic said, the five guys are gonna be Quinion, Tarik Wolin, Jonathan Jones, Keeley Ringo, Mac McWilliams. He didn't mention Cooper there, because I think he's counting Cooper as a safety. So at second, in the safety spot, I have Kepenna Gushikin and Maximus Pooley. So I think Gushikin has played better than Pooley. Other people think Pooley has been better. I think the fact Gushikin can go up and play Nicol is really enticing, but I wouldn't shock me if they kept one of these safeties. They, you know, you look at a year from now, who knows what Maccuba will be. Epps isn't under contract. Michael Carter isn't under contract. So I think there's benefits, especially if they have a good game tonight, of not exposing these guys to waivers. And then finally, Rocco Underwood, who knows if he's a good long snapper? We'll see tonight. I've only seen him snap a few times in camp. Resident long snapping expert, Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice, did say that he thinks Rocco Underwood hasn't been great, and I value Jimmy's word, especially when it comes to special teams. So I think on the roster simply, maybe if they actually think he's been really good, you don't want to get tricky, you just keep him, you risk another team claiming him, but I think he'd get through waivers pretty easily. So those are the 13 guys, I think, that are competing for five roster spots. Of those guys that I think I'll end up keeping on the team, Elijah Moore, Kam Latou, Gushiken, Weeroo, and who will be the, maybe one of the safeties, or another safety. I don't know, I'll have to think about it, but this is why I never win the beat writing competition. So, go out, enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll talk to you tonight for some Eagles football, a Friday night together. What's better than that? Until next time, he's Elliot, I'm James. Talk to you guys later.