Eagles Pre-Season Game #1 Preview

First of all, let me make it clear what I think of pre-season games. They do serve somewhat of a legitimate purpose as they allow the coaching staff to evaluate their talent against other players, but for the most part they are a waste of time and highway robbery by the NFL that they charge us ticketholders full price. Well it all starts this Thursday night at the Linc when the Eagles play their first preseason game against the New England Patriots. With all this in mind, here, in order of importance, are the top ten priorities, for the Eagles in this preseason game:

1. Avoid Injuries
2. Avoid Injuries
3. Avoid Injuries
4. Avoid Injuries
5. Avoid Injuries
6. Avoid Injuries
7. Avoid Injuries
8. Execute Well
9. Get the rookies playing time to see who is the real deal.
10. Win the Game

Those first seven are so key. We have already seen two key Eagles most likely lost for the season due to injuries in training camp. Starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley and rookie tight end Cornelius Ingram have both been lost to torn ACLs in their knees.

For those of you who have been reading my blog, you know that I really thought highly of Ingram who I thought was a steal in the 5th round if he could stay healthy. Note the end of that sentence - if he could stay healthy. This is the exact same injury that caused Ingram to miss his senior season at Florida. He will now be out for two straight seasons with the same injury. The question will now become whether he will be able to return and play football at all.

Now while I am bummed about the loss of Ingram, I think the loss of Stewart Bradley will be even bigger. Ingram was just potential while Bradley has been starting at middle linebacker for the past season and a half and doing a very good job of it. Someone asked me earlier who I thought would take the leadership position on defense now that Dawkins was gone and the first name that came to my mind was Stewart Bradley. The leadership hole on defense this year will be huge. Think of all the Eagles have lost. They lost their heart and soul with Brian Dawkins, they lost their mastermind with the passing of defensive coordinator Jim Johnson and they lost their leader of the future in Stewart Bradley.

So does all this mean I won’t be watching Thursday night? Absolutely not! There is plenty to watch for in this game. On offense, I want to see how the rookies perform, especially Maclin and McCoy. The Eagles have a lot of depth at wide receiver and there has been a lot of buzz coming out of training camp about sixth round pick Brandon Gibson. However, the Eagles have five players returning at receiver plus first round pick Maclin. The Eagles will not carry more than six receivers on the team and they may only carry five. The only way someone like Brandon Gibson makes the team is if one of the veterans get cut. So I’ll be looking at how the Eagles veteran receivers like Reggie Brown, Hank Baskett and Jason Avant play in this game. I think there is a very good chance that one of them is gone by the end of the preseason. My early money is on Reggie Brown.

As for defense, with Bradley’s injury, there is also going to be an interesting battle at middle linebacker between Omar Gaither and second year player Joe Mays, so I’ll be watching to see who starts there and how each perform. The free safety spot is also interesting as the Eagles have Quintin Demps listed first on their depth chart, but I would keep my eye on Sean Jones who was brought in as a free agent. Of course, there’s also the long shot that rookie Macho Harris makes a splash, but I wouldn’t count on it. Finally, while it will probably be too early to tell, I'll be looking for any of the veterans that show a sign leadership that will be so needed as the season progresses.

Well, there are a few things I’ll be looking at this Thursday night when I tune in for that wonderful exhibition known as NFL pre-season football.