3 Eagles Who Must Show Up Against The Bears If Philly Wants To Get To 3-0

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles are 2-0 heading into Monday night at Soldier Field. The record looks clean. The tape from the first two weeks does not.

Chicago. Meanwhile, is 1-1 after somehow reverting from 59 points against Carolina to three in a 9-3 setback against Minnesota and Brian Flores’ havoc-creating defense.

The Bears are expected to be without playmaking quarterback Caleb Williams, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Vikings. Backup Tyson Bagent is also in question after being placed into the NFL’s concussion protocol, meaning it might be QB3 Case Keenum for Chicago.

Even so, the Eagles need to clean up some sloppy play of they want to turn a positive start to the season into sustained success.

The three Eagles who need to produce in the Windy City start with rookie receiver Makai Lemon, who is becoming a weekly staple on this list because of his lack of production, and is now being pushed by Darius Cooper.

Also needing to pick it up are left guard Cam Jurgens and embattled safety Marcus Epps.

Lemon's Dilemma

Lemon has to become more than a manufactured touch player. Through two NFL games he has only four receptions for nine yards.

Week 1 against Washington was a minus-5-yard night. Week 2 in Tennessee was a single 14-yard grab on third-and-8 — a useful conversion that helped set up a Tank Bigsby score — plus a minus-5 rush.

That is not what a first-round receiver is supposed to look like two weeks in, even after a hamstring issue limited him in camp. Meanwhile, the need for production is just getting louder.

TE1 Dallas Goedert is out a few weeks with an MCL sprain, which should push more targets into the slot and short-to-intermediate areas Lemon was drafted to occupy.

On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Sean Mannion was staying positive when asked about Lemon.

“He's doing a great job for us,” Mannion claimed. “I know he made the big third down play for us there. We have a lot of weapons. He's one we're very excited about. I think, again, there's different ways that you're attacking the defense, you're using different motions. Sometimes the ball may be intended to go to them, but they throw a curve ball at you in terms of the coverage they're giving you. So we're excited about him.

“He does a lot of the little things well. That's why he's on the field and he's really thriving for us in his role and we're going to continue to look to get him going as the season goes on. He made a big play there on the third down. That was a really tough catch going to the ground with a guy on his back. So he's doing a lot of stuff well for us. We're going to continue to lean into that and use him more and more.

Cam Jurgens Spotlight

Jurgens is no longer snapping the ball. After Landon Dickerson went on injured reserve, Philadelphia moved the two-time Pro Bowl selection to left guard and started second-year man Drew Kendall at center against Tennessee. That’s expected to continue in Chicago.

It was Jurgens’ first start at left guard and it was ugly enough against Titans superstar Jeffery Simmons that the veteran admitted he has to be better.

If the interior leaks again on Monday night in Chicago, the new-look offense will remain inconsistent and in need of Jalen Hurts to bail the group out.

Marcus Epps On Notice

The signing of veteran defensive back Kenny Moore to the practice squad raised an antenna toward Marcus Epps, who has a less-than-stellar game against the Titans.

Epps won the strong safety job over Michael Carter in training camp. He is the veteran next to Drew Mukuba in Vic Fangio’s secondary. Through two games, the results have been ordinary at best.

Against Tennessee, Pro Football Focus put three missed tackles on Epps as the limited Titans kept generating explosive plays and took the Eagles to the limit.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio admitted Epps need to play better.

“I thought Drew played an OK to good game. Marcus had some plays that he would like to have back, both against the pass and the run, and he'll bounce back,” Fangio stated.

Fangio did again say he has no interest in moving Cooper DeJean to safety on a full-time basis but the presence of Carter and Moore, both slot cornerbacks who the Eagles project could handle safety, means Epps is on notice.

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