Eagles Decision to Add 2 Guards, and What About 3 Gameday QBs?
PHILADELPHIA – A defensive lineman and a cornerback get placed on Injured Reserve on Monday and the Eagles add … two guards?
It seems a bit incongruous, but head coach Doug Pederson explained why Sua Opeta was called up from the practice squad on Monday and why, on Wednesday, the Eagles plucked Jamon Brown off the practice squad of the Chicago Bears.
“Well, you guys know in the past, we've usually carried 10 offensive linemen on the active, on the 53,” said Pederson on Wednesday morning. “The thing that’s also I think different, too, now, and this is what we're working through is the practice squad roster, having the ability to manipulate that with different guys and having guys available on game day.
“But this gives us O-line protection, especially the later you get in the season when offensive lineman become kind of a premium around the league, it protects us that way to have these guys on your 53.”
And what does that mean for Nate Herbig, who started his first NFL game against Washington last Sunday?
“It's Nate's job right now and he has to do everything he can to keep that,” said the coach.
Herbig will try to keep his job on Sunday against Aaron Donald and the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive front. Nothing too difficult about that, right?
Waiting in the wings should Herbig stumble is, not so much Opeta, who has never played in an NFL game, but Brown, who has played in 60 NFL games, with 47 starts.
Just when Brown will be able to get on the field should he be needed is up to Brown, pretty much.
“Obviously he's got to get in the mix and he's got to get in the playbook, so terminology, he's got to pick up terminology, understand that first, and then we have to feel comfortable that we can put him in the game,” said Pederson, adding that it could take a couple of days or up to a week before that happens.
QB SHUFFLE?
It was a mild surprise that Jalen Hurts wasn’t active for Sunday’s game, with the Eagles choosing to keep Carson Wentz and Nate Sudfeld as the only two quarterbacks on the game-day active roster.
The thinking going into the season was that Hurts could have a package of plays, but perhaps it’s too soon for that and the Eagles are allowing Hurts to progress at a more comfortable speed, especially without preseason games and OTAs.
“I think that's a week-to-week discussion that we have as far as the backup quarterbacks,” said Pederson. “You'd love to have all three quarterbacks up. We had Nate up this past weekend, and we make those determinations on really, injuries, and where we are as a team moving forward.
“But I would say that if he were up, he doesn't necessarily have to be a part of the game plan in any specific way.”
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