Jonathan Greenard Won't Be Saving The Eagles Pass Rush When He Returns -- At Least Right Away

The Philadelphia Eagles have been anticipating Jonathan Greenard to make his debut for a while.

After not keeping Greenard on the PUP list (which would have kept him out until Week 5), there was growing anticipation Greenard would return at some point early in the season. That return hasn't happened yet.

Greenard has been absent the first two games, and there's not a guarantee he'll play in Week 3 either. If Greenard does make his Eagles debut this week, Vic Fangio is tempering down expectations.

"He's definitely not ready for a full workload," Fangio said Wednesday. "He's not only coming off inactivity, he's coming off an injury. His injury for a good bit -- the first, I don't know, four to six, seven weeks -- he really couldn't do a whole lot conditioning wise either.

"So yeah, he's nowhere near ready for a full load."

Greenard tore his pectoral before the start of training camp, so this injury has lasted at least two months. Pectoral injuries are tricky and do last a while, so the Eagles are being wise and extra cautious regarding Greenard.

Even when Greenard comes back, it doesn't appear he'll be the impact player the Eagles paid for. Not out of the gate anyway.

What is the plan with Greenard?

The Eagles have listed Greenard as a limited participant in practice for the first two weeks of practice, leaving it up to the training staff to decide if Greenard is good to go. Greenard has been ruled out the firts two games, but the Eagles have an extra day to prepare for the Chicago Bears (Monday Night Football).

What the Eagles do regarding Greenard this week will be revealed on Thursday when the team begins practice. Greenard being listed as a full participant will be a sign he's coming back, which is a good sign for the Eagles.

The pass rush could certainly use it, particularly on the edge.

Too much pressure for Greenard to play at a Pro Bowl level

Greenard isn't going to be the game-changing player he was with the Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings, at least right when he comes back.

Fangio said Greenard won't be playing the full workload of snaps, so he won't be anywhere close to 100% of the snaps. That's also an indicator Greenard isn't in football shape yet, and would need to ease his way into a higher snap count week-by-week.

When Greenard returns, he's going to be limited. He'll be in a rotation with Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith, which does bolster the pass rush -- even if the Eagles aren't geeting the Pro Bowl-caliber player Greenard was over the past few years.

That could come later in the season, but Greenard is weeks behind other players in conditioning and getting into football shape because of his injury. There's no guarantee Greenard will even be 100% by October.

Sooner or later, the Eagles will have to find out.

The Eagles edge rushers have been okay, but disappointing

There was a lot of hype around Jalyx Hunt and how he performed in training camp, too much hype. Created expectations had Hunt taking the next step up to a game-changing pass rusher based on his strong finish to last season and excellent training camp.

A step -- or two -- may have been skipped there.

Hunt has been fine, having a 16.3% pressure rate through two games -- but no sacks. Nolan Smith sits at 16.7% with a sack, and has pleyed well through the first two weeks.

The Eagles have gotten next to nothing from Arnold Ebiketie and A.J. Epenesa through two games, so Greenard's return will help the pass rush by his mere presence.

The telling stat with this pass rush? The time to pressure (2.8) and opponent time to throw (3.43) is last in the NFL, which is a product of the secondary playing well in coverage. The Eagles pass rush just isn't taking advantage of the situatio.

Again, there's a lot of pressure on Greenard to perform at a high level once he steps on the field. That doesn't appear to be the case once he returns.

It's a long season, and patience is a virtue.

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