Setting Eagles' Fans Expectations for Jonathan Greenard's Debut Against The Bears

Greenard is expected to make his Eagles debut, but what should Eagles fans expect?

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The Philadelphia Eagles have waited two long months for Jonathan Greenard to get to this point.

After a pectoral injury sidelined Greenard for all of training camp and the first two weeks of the season, Greenard is expected to make his debut for the Eagles against the Bears on Monday night.

The Eagles are going to get their top pass rusher back, the player they shelled out a four-year, $98 million contract to this offseason. They'll finally get to see the impact Greenard will make in this defense.

Not so fast.

Expectations for Greenard in his debut should be tempered, but the excitement should be there. What can we expect from Greenard against the Bears?

He will make an impact in his debut, regardless if he gets a sack or not.

How much will Greenard play?

Greenard isn't expedted to play the full continhgent of snaps, as he has been working his way back into football shape. Since Greenard has been out for two months and missed all of training camp, the Eagles have been cautious in their approach to brining him back.

The expectation was for Greenard to return before Week 5 since he wasn't remaining on the PUP list, and the Eagles had him as a limited participant until Saturday. Vic Fangio said Greenard won't be ready for a full workload, so don't expect him to play 100% of the snaps.

"He's not only coming off inactivity, he's coming off an injury," Fangio said last week. "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."

The Eagles will have Greenard in a rotation with Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt, likely having Greenard start on the right side with Smith on the left. Greenard will rotate with Smith and Hunt, but expect Smith and Hunt to take a majority of the snaps on the edge.

If Greenard plays 50% of the snaps, he'll make an impact -- and help out that entire edge rusher group.

The real benefactors

Smith and Hunt are the two that will be impacted the most with Greenard in the fold. Both edge rushers have been fine through two games, but expectations were too high for both of them heading into the year.

Hunt has a 16.3% pressure rate through two games -- but no sacks. Smith sits at a 16.7% pressure rate with a sack, and has played well through the first two weeks. The Eagles entered Week 3 eighth in the league in pressure rate, but the time to pressure (2.8) and opponent time to throw (3.43) is last in the NFL -- a product of the secondary playing well in coverage.

If Greenard's presence helps Smith and Hunt get to the quarterback, similar to Jaelan Phillips and his impact last year, the Eagles pass rush instantly improves.

When will Greenard get to 100%?

This will be a week-by-week process, but the key aspect with Greenard's return is his health. A shoulder injury affected Greenard last season in November and he played through it before eventually needing surgery that shut him down at the end of last season.

Greenard worked his way back from surgery this offseason, rehabbing his shoulder as the Eagles were expecting him to be ready for the start of training camp. Then the pectoral injury set Greenard back seven weeks.

Whatever the plan is, Greenard is healthy enough to make his return in Week 3 against the Bears. The Eagles know where Greenard stands in terms of health, but the trainers obviously think Greenard is good to go.

Greenard is healthy, and just has to build his way back into game shape. We'll see how everything plays out, but he'll improve in the weeks ahead. The Pro Bowl version of Greenard may not be unveiled until midseason, and that's okay.

The Eagles need Greenard for the stretch run.

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