It's a Howie Roseman Game, Plus 5 Players to Watch vs. the Jets

The Eagles GM constructed the roster with plenty of draft picks, but the depth has not performed well in the previous two games, so a good showing would help

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - This is a Howie Roseman game.

It’s not for the starters.

It’s for the rookies, for the second-teamers and those on the roster fringe, the bubble players and the no-chancers wanting to put something good on film that will make one of the other 31 teams sit up and take notice.

Friday’s game against the New York Jets (7:30 p.m./NBC10) is a chance to show that the depth on this team is sound, to put minds at ease that, if there is a key injury, have no fear, the backups are here.

In the first two preseason games, the depth hasn’t exactly distinguished itself.

That’s on Roseman and he should hope it shows up better against the Jets than it did against the Steelers and Patriots.

He is the one who drafted 10 players last year – eight of whom remain on the roster – and nine this past spring.

Those 17 players need to show that Roseman and his staff weren’t wrong in picking them.

Of course, some of those 17 aren’t expected to play – Jalen Hurts, Jalen Reagor, among them.

The 2019 draft class should be in display, with first-round pick Andre Dillard, now a backup to Jordan Mailata at left tackle, and second-round WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.

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The Eagles’ goal all summer was to get to Week 1 healthy.

They held short, up-tempo practices.

They very sparingly played their starters in the first two preseason games.

The result has been a mostly healthy team as August draws to a close.

Really, the only starter who is hurt is Rodney McLeod, but the safety suffered his injury at the end of last season when he tore an ACL for the second time in three years.

Other than that, this team looks good to go on Sept. 12 in Atlanta.

So, why would they risk jeopardizing what they spent a summer trying to achieve by playing their starters in Friday night’s preseason finale?

Sure, it would be good to see the first-team offensive line get a series or two, opening holes for starting RB Miles Sanders and protecting QB Jalen Hurts in the pocket. Yeah, DeVonta Smith could use some polish. So could many others.

It just won’t happen.

If the summer of good health mantra isn’t enough of a convincer head coach Nick Sirianni said this when asked by SI.com Eagle Maven if there was any concern that 16 days will have gone by between the end of the exhibition game and the start of the regular season.

“This is a brand-new territory we're in,” he said. “We don't plan on taking two weeks off before Atlanta. We plan on working our tails off that week. We know what the week is going to look like before Atlanta. Very similar to a week that's going to look like in week four or week seven. That week is spelled out.

“We're going to work our tails off that two weeks before. So, we are going to work hard in that time frame. So, again, it's all case by case of what we are going to do. Again, this is great. I love this work that we're getting, and with these two joint practices and the three preseason games, to me, that's what, seven preseason games in my mind of how we've been working.”

5 PLAYERS TO WATCH FRIDAY:

Nick Mullens. He’s going to play a lot, then will not be seen again this season unless disaster strikes. The QB3 could be considered a bubble player, depending on how many passers the Eagles keep.

Nick Mullens :: Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagle Maven

Jack Stoll. The UDFA tight end had a touchdown catch in Wednesday’s practice against the Jets and the Eagles bench poured out to congratulate him. He could be in the mix to make the roster depending on how the Eagles feel about keeping veteran Richard Rodgers and guaranteeing his salary for the rest of the year.

Elijah Riley. The safety has had a strong camp and a good game could make the decision very difficult as to whether or not the Eagles keep him or Andrew Adams.

Andre Dillard. The left tackle has to play right? He missed a couple of weeks of camp with a leg injury but has since returned in limited form. If he doesn’t play that doesn’t mean he has won the job over Jordan Mailata, but perhaps the Eagles don’t want to further devalue him in a possible trade. Or his leg is still not 100 percent.

Patrick Johnson. The seventh-round LB figures to play plenty with a groin injury to Genard Avery. Johnson should make the team, but a good showing would certainly cement that spot and make the Eagles feel a little better about their depth.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.