The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced two roster moves ahead of their Week 1 NFL Kickoff Game against the Dallas Cowboys. An overview:
- S Marcus Epps and EDGE Patrick Johnson were temporarily elevated from the practice squad.
Note: teams can temporarily promote practice squad players up to three times each 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.
MARCUS EPPS
The Eagles recently brought Epps back to Philly after he was released by the New England Patriots. Temporarily elevating him gives the Eagles a fourth
safety behind projected starters Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown … and rookie Andrew Mukuba. Epps figures to contribute on special teams in addition to providing depth on defense.
PATRICK JOHNSON
Johnson’s elevation is a bit surprising in the sense that there were other moves that could’ve taken precedence. Johnson’s elevation is not surprising in the sense that he’s a good special teams contributor who can also provide depth at edge rusher.
NOTABLE NON-MOVES
The Eagles did NOT temporarily elevate Britain Covey. There was thought they would so he could be their punt returner. It might be Jahan Dotson returning punts for the Eagles instead. He doesn’t have NFL experience in that role but he did it at Penn State and he repped there in training camp this summer. Cooper DeJean is also an option, though Vic Fangio likely prefers for him to remain on defense only.
The Eagles did NOT temporarily elevate or sign Kyle McCord to the roster. This means they won’t have a third full-time quarterback option behind starter Jalen Hurts and backup Sam Howell after Tanner McKee was ruled out of Week 1 on Wednesday due to his thumb injury. It remains to be seen which position player would play QB in a pinch, if needed. The Eagles will be hoping not to get to that point.
