The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced two roster moves ahead of the team’s Week 8 Sunday night game against the Washington Commanders.
Here’s an overview:
- RB Elijah Mitchell and EDGE Mason Reiger were temporarily elevated from the practice squad.
Note: teams are permitted to temporarily elevate up to two practice squad players per game. A player can be elevated up to three times in the regular season and an unlimited number of times in the postseason.
Let’s sort through this news on a player-by-player basis.
ELIJAH MITCHELL
Saquon Barkley will play against the Commanders despite being listed under “did
not participate” on Wednesday and Thursday before being upgraded to limited on Friday. It remains to be seen how much of a workload he can handle; Barkley was clearly playing through discomfort from his hamstring and back injuries in Week 7. He was ultimately limited to 10 snaps on Monday night.
Jaydon Blue, who was promoted from the practice squad earlier this week, is the only other Eagles running back on the roster. The Eagles previously had him active for Week 6 but did not play him at all despite injuries knocking them down to Dameon Pierce (who is now on injured reserve) as the only backfield option in that game.
By elevating Mitchell, the Eagles now have three running backs for Sunday’s game. He could also factor in as a kick returner with Britan Covey out.
This is Mitchell’s second temporary elevation this season. He only has one more remaining.
MASON REIGER
Reiger is set to make his Eagles debut after originally joining Philadelphia’s practice squad on August 31.
The Eagles are currently banged up at edge rusher, sort of. It’s not to the point where their edge rushers won’t suit up for Sunday’s game. But it is to the point where Jalyx Hunt and Jonathan Greenard saw way fewer snaps than normal in Week 7. Nolan Smith is also coming off a concussion while Arnold Ebiketie has been playing a lot due to the other injuries at his position.
Reiger likely won’t play much, if at all, on defense but he’s around for depth purposes in addition to contributing on special teams.
NON-MOVES
- For the third game in a row, Zach Ertz will sit out while being on the practice squad. The Eagles already used up his three temporary elevations, so, he can only play if he’s on the roster. And the Eagles have instead opted to go with Dallas Goedert, Johnny Mundt, Eli Stowers, and Grant Calcaterra as their top four tight ends. Maybe the plan is to bring Ertz up if/when the Eagles deal Goedert ahead of the NFL trade deadline? We’ll see. In the meantime, Ertz continues to be seven receptions away from tying the Eagles’ all-time franchise record in that category.
- The Eagles notably did NOT activate Jakorian Bennett from injured reserve, despite the fact that top backup cornerback Jonathan Jones has been ruled out of Sunday’s game. With the Eagles opening Bennett’s 21-day practice window to return from IR on October 14, the time to activate him is running out. In the meantime, Kelee Ringo and/or Mac McWilliams could see snaps on defense if the Eagles’ corner depth is tested.
- Interesting to see that the Eagles went with temporarily elevating Reiger instead of 2026 rookie Keyshawn James-Newby. KJN previously got the nod the last two weeks and has one elevation remaining.
- The Eagles are entering Sunday’s game with just three healthy off-ball linebackers: Zack Baun, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (starting in place of an injured Jihaad Campbell), and Smael Mondon. The team did not opt to temporarily elevate Anfernee Orji from the practice squad to have a fourth player at this position.
