First Day Of Work

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles on Wednesday returned to the practice field, kicking off a week of preparation ahead of their Week 8 rematch with the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field.

In terms of status updates, not practicing for the Eagles were WR A.J. Brown (unknown), LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (ankle), C Cam Jurgens (knee), OLB Azeez Ojulari (hamstring) and CB Adoree’ Jackson (concussion). I did not see Jurgens, Ojulari or Jackson during the media attended portion of practice.

Returning to practice was TE Grant Calcaterra (oblique) and CB Jakorian Bennett (pec). And, of course, it was easy to spot No. 55, Brandon Graham, who was participating in his first practice since coming out of retirement.

The official practice report to be released later today.

ITB PHOTO/ANDREW DICECCO: Eagles EDGE Brandon Graham was back at practice Wednesday after coming out of retirement.

 Sirianni’s update on key member of Eagles OL

Early in the Eagles’ Week 7 win in Minnesota, C Cam Jurgens exited with what was ruled a knee injury. He was later ruled out and has an undetermined timeline. Replacing Jurgens in-game was veteran Brett Toth, who accounted for 35 of the team’s 50 offensive snaps.

With regard to Jurgens, Sirianni said Monday at the time of his mid-afternoon availability, that he hadn’t “gotten with the doctors quite yet.” Sirianni added that he would converse with the doctors later in the day, which he said is when he typically does.

There wasn’t much more clarity provided Wednesday, when Sirianni met with reporters.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes. He’s always gonna do everything he can do – and our trainers, and our doctors and our strength staff – will do everything they can do to get him back going as soon as possible. We’ll see where we are. You’ll get the injury report later today, but we’ll see where we are as the week continues and where Cam is.”

If Jurgens isn’t be able to go this week, his absence could result in a shuffling of the deck, as the Eagles have some optionality with their configurations.

The first option would be to keep Toth at center, as offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland historically avoids altering multiple positions for continuity purposes. Still, the Giants present a unique challenge in the middle of their defensive line, where Dexter Lawrence resides. There’s also the option of sliding left guard Landon Dickerson over to center and inserting Toth at left guard, where he started in the previous matchup with the Giants.

In keeping with the Dickerson-at-center theme, the Eagles also have veteran Sua Opeta on the practice squad. Sua has extensive experience at left guard. Matt Pryor, who logged over 1,000 snaps last season with the Bears, could conceivably be called upon, too, though the team seems to prefer keeping him on the right side.

Regardless of how the alignment shakes out, Sirianni remained adamant in his confidence in those needed to atone for a potential Jurgens absence. He also indicated that the factors extend beyond having options and continuity; it’s about selecting the combination that gives the Eagles the best opportunity to win the football game.

“You’re constantly trying to think of what the best thing is for the football team,” he said. “And so, you know you have options, because of the guys that we have there with everybody. You have options there. You wanna keep continuity as much as you possibly can, but you also wanna give yourself the best opportunity to win.

“So, all those things are weighed. How practice looks is weighed. How practices goes, and walkthroughs, for that matter. But we got a lot of confidence in the guys – if Cam can’t go – we have a lot of confidence in the guys who would be filling that spot.”

Corner on the mend

The Eagles could have a reinforcement back at a position of need, potentially as early as this week. The team announced Wednesday they’ve opened the 21-day window for cornerback Jakorian Bennett, who was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 24 with a pec injury. Bennett sustained the injury in the season opener and played through it before aggravating it late in the Eagles’ thrilling 33-26 win over the Rams.

Acquired in early August in a trade that sent defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV to the Las Vegas Raiders, Bennett contributed sparsely on defense in three games, logging 24 snaps and another 20 on special teams. Given how frequently the Eagles have pivoted back and forth from veteran Adoree’ Jackson and third-year pro Kelee Ringo opposite Quinyon Mitchell, perhaps Bennett can provide some stability. If available for Sunday, I’d expect the 25-year-old Bennett to get a long look on defense ahead of the looming trade deadline, to get a better sense of what he is or isn’t.

Another familiar face returns

In other transactional news, the Eagles also announced the return of guard Sua Opeta, who joins the practice squad. Opeta (6-4, 305) originally signed with the Eagles in 2019 as a rookie free agent, spending most of the season on the practice squad before a December promotion to the active roster. From 2020-23, Opeta appeared in 38 games (10 starts). He then signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but wouldn’t appear in a regular season game, suffering an ACL tear in his first training camp with the team and then falling short of making the 53-man roster last summer.

The 29-year-old Opeta gives the Eagles another experienced veteran who can play left or right guard.

— Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com