BALTIMORE — The Philadelphia Eagles last traveled north on Interstate 95 from a game in Baltimore in December 2024, looking like bona fide Super Bowl contenders. It’s hard to say what impression they left this time in a 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Saturday’s preseason opener, other than they don’t place a premium on the exhibiton schedule — in playing time for starters and play calling from the coaches — and any hope they’ll imbue anyone with that feeling of contention again needs to wait until next month when the games begin to count.
But they still played 60 minutes. There were still jobs up for grabs, roster spots in question and even unforgettable debuts.
Here are five thoughts:
1. Quarterback race reverses
The backup quarterback situation went backward. No ground was made up in the quarterback competition, which is discouraging in itself.
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The whole idea of trading Andy Dalton or Tanner McKee is that they’re both among the top backup quarterbacks in the NFL. It didn’t help that they played without a starting offensive line and top skill players, but pro scouting departments won’t watch this film and view the Eagles’ quarterback depth chart as the envy of the league. Of course, there’s only so much one can read into a preseason game — especially for Dalton, who has started 173 games in his NFL career, including the playoffs.
“Nothing’s decided there as far as who’s the two, who’s the three,” head coach Nick Sirianni said when asked why he decided to start Dalton. “Andy’s played a lot of football. … Tanner’s had two starts.
“That’s just how we decided to go today. Been rotating with them in practice. I think both of them have continued to grow within the offense.”
Dalton finished 3 of 6 for 20 yards on three drives. He was hurt by penalties on the opening drive and a costly third-down drop by Darius Cooper. McKee took over and went 6 of 10 for 35 yards. In four full drives (excluding an end-of-half drive), there were three three-and-outs.
It’s a sharp contrast to one year ago. McKee was the unquestioned No. 2 quarterback. He started the preseason opener and went 20 of 25 for 252 yards and two touchdowns. He looked like a starting-caliber quarterback that night. In fact, the Eagles saw enough that they didn’t play him again in the preseason.
If you told me that night he’d effectively be the third-stringer during the preseason debut one year later, I would not have believed it. It seemed as if the arrow was pointing up in his career.
That’s been the perplexing part of the backup quarterback competition this summer — either his stock fell last season, they didn’t like the system fit, or they were drawn to the asset value of two backup quarterbacks. It hasn’t materialized productively.
Dalton has enough of a track record that the league knows what he is, but McKee’s stock might not be what it was last summer.
“I’ll let the coaches decide that,” McKee said of the competition. “My job is to go out and play when I’m put on field, so how that’s going, I’m going to put in the work, I’m going to do the extra stuff. I’m going to do everything to have my case of why I believe I should be the backup.”
McKee said he looked on the “bright side” of not starting, because if he needed to enter a game in the regular season, it would usually happen in the middle of the game.
This has clearly been a different experience for Dalton and McKee. Their spot on the depth chart changes by the practice. Neither quarterback created distance Saturday, and two weeks remain until cutdown day. Perhaps those two weeks will provide more clarity, but it remains as unclear as ever after this game.
2. International players steal the show
When I remember this game a decade from now — what does it say about me that I might remember this game a decade from now? — I’ll focus less on the offense and the backup quarterbacks and more on an otherwise unremarkable drive in the third quarter when Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru played their first snaps of football in a game — ever.
“How exciting for those two guys to be playing in an NFL football game?” Sirianni asked.
Bernard, a native of Nigeria, and Weru, a native of Kenya, did not start practicing football until the spring. They didn’t wear full pads until two weeks ago. Consider how many youth league, high school or college games most everyone else on the field played before their NFL debuts.
Bernard and Weru did it for the first time in this setting. In the locker room after the game, teammates told Bernard how proud they were of him.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” said Bernard, who had chills when he went on the field. “I think I’m proud of myself.”
There were signs of major development necessary, but there were also flashes you can get behind — especially with Weru. He gets less attention than Bernard, but don’t forget about the undrafted edge rusher who was an international rugby player. He had a quarterback hit, and you saw his burst chasing down the passer.
Weru is 6 feet 4 and 244 pounds with a 4.45-second 40-yard dash and 41 1/2-inch vertical leap, and he’s demonstrated in practice tools that are hard to find at the position.
Both players are a work in progress. Vic Fangio said they’re “light-years away.” But Weru said this week that you need to celebrate the wins during the development process. It was a refreshing outlook. And seeing Bernard disengage a blocker or Weru apply pressure, it’s hard not to think about how far they’ve already come rather than focus on how far they still have to go.
Saturday night was a benchmark for them. It will be a lasting memory from the game.
3. It stood out that Jihaad Campbell was the only starter who played. It also stood out that Marcus Epps did not play
Sirianni explained that Campbell did not get as many reps last season — he played 710 snaps, which was 63 percent of the snaps on defense — and that they thought he would benefit from the work. One could push back on the idea that he didn’t get much work last season, although he is the youngest and least-experienced player among the starting defense. Sirianni’s explanation that he wants to give him playing time makes sense. I did not interpret Campbell’s inclusion as a signal that his spot could be in trouble. (The Eagles, however, are deep on linebackers, as you’ll read below.)
With Epps out of uniform along with the other defensive starters, it might signal where the starting safety competition is headed — at least entering the season. Sirianni pushed back on that idea, saying that Epps is “a little bit older” and Michael Carter II had limited experience after his midseason acquisition in 2025.
Training camp has already offered clues, considering Epps has played the preponderance of first-team snaps in nickel. Carter has mixed in with the first-teamers, so the competition has continued, but Epps has been the front-runner since the summer started. I figured both would play. Perhaps the Eagles don’t need to see much more from Epps, who has 53 career starts between the regular season and postseason and played safety in this scheme last season. There’s more to learn about Carter. My guess remains that the veteran presence of Epps will give him the edge in Week 1 against Washington.
4. The Eagles have serious linebacker depth — even after losing Nakobe Dean in free agency
Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was one of the bright spots for the Eagles on Saturday, with five tackles, a sack and two quarterback hits in limited playing time. He’s looked like a starting-caliber player whenever he’s entered games. Undrafted rookie Deontae Lawson also made plays, totaling five tackles. This doesn’t even include Smael Mondon Jr., a fifth-round pick last year, who had five tackles and a quarterback hit; and Chance Campbell, who did not play because of injury but impressed on scout team last season, and who Fangio noted should be kept in mind for 53-man roster projections.
It makes you wonder if the Eagles will look to trade from this position of strength. Trotter could carry trade value, although with Campbell’s injury history and Zack Baun turning 30 in December, he might be valuable to keep around for at least the final two years of his contract. I’m not sure Mondon carries much trade value (unless it’s a player-for-player deal), so Trotter would be the trade candidate. This illustrates how far the Eagles have come at the position under Fangio. Linebacker was a wasteland for the Eagles at the start of the decade. Now, we’re talking about having more starting-caliber linebackers than starting spots.
5. Preseason’s most important days are game days
Sorry to tell the fans who watch every minute of the preseason: The most important two days of the preseason come this week in New England. The Eagles have joint practices with the New England Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday in Foxborough, Mass., and those days will reveal more about the offense’s progress and how this team matches up with a Super Bowl contender than anything learned in the 180 minutes of game action on television this month.
“We’ve got a big week this week coming up, and the ones are going to get a lot of reps in New England for the joint practices,” Sirianni said.
That’s also why Sirianni does not play his starters in the preseason. The Eagles prioritize health (and keeping their scheme close to the vest) in games and have placed a greater emphasis on joint practices. The offense was bad Saturday, and there’s no spin or rationalizing the performance. There won’t be games this season (until perhaps Week 18) when they play 11 backups, although other teams play without starters and move the ball efficiently. The Eagles’ preseason opener last year was an example. But it’s hard to form any judgment based on what was on display in Baltimore.
A better evaluation will come in New England — just not in the game next week.
