1. The Eagles need a vintage Zach Ertz performance on Thursday. Dallas Goedert is on the reserve/COVID-19 list, making it unlikely Goedert returns in time to play on a short week. He’ll need to be symptom-free and produce two negative tests 24 hours apart. Assuming Goedert is out, the Eagles won’t be inclined to split snaps at tight end and would feature Ertz, who has played only 56 percent of the offensive snaps this season.
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“We know we have two really good tight ends,” coach Nick Sirianni said, “and Zach will be ready to go.”
Ertz hasn’t finished with more than 70 yards in a game since Week 14 of the 2019 season. At that point, he had reached 90 yards in four of five games.
Jack Stoll is expected to be the No. 2 tight end. The Eagles could elevate recently signed practice squad tight end Noah Togiai as the No. 3 tight end.
Although the Eagles chose not to trade Ertz during the offseason and Ertz has said all the right things, it’s not a foregone conclusion that he finishes the season in Philadelphia. A contending team could be interested in the veteran tight end (perhaps Arizona after losing Maxx Williams?) and a strong performance by Ertz on national television will show he can still be a valuable player in a productive offense.
2. One player who could earn more playing time for the Eagles in the coming weeks is linebacker Davion Taylor, the 2020 third-round pick who has been hurt for most of the season.
Remember, the Eagles played Taylor with the first-team defense early in training camp and were intrigued by what they saw. They drafted him last year — perhaps earlier than they should have — because of traits they wanted to develop. It was understood that patience was required. But with the Eagles’ linebacker group offering only modest production, it would make sense for the Eagles to witness Taylor’s traits in action.
Taylor played 34 percent of the defensive snaps against the Panthers and finished with four tackles. The Eagles are still trying to figure out their best linebackers. Taylor lacks instincts and polish, but he brings speed to a group that needs improvement.
“He is doing a good job,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said. “His playing time is going up, and that goes into he did a really good job in training camp, and then he got hurt, and we want to keep trying to maximize his skill set and get him in the game as much as we can in certain packages when it fits for him and us. Pleased with him. He did a really good job.”
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3. Even though DeVonta Smith was targeted eight times against Carolina, that’s still not enough. It’s easy for me to write the Eagles must get Player X more touches — that can be said about the tight ends or Quez Watkins or Miles Sanders or Kenny Gainwell — but it starts with Smith. Frank Reich said before Week 1 of the 2017 season that the Eagles had play designs called “17 plays” on the call sheet for Alshon Jeffery, No. 17. They wanted to make sure they fed their new No. 1 wide receiver. That’s how the Eagles should operate with Smith.
Smith has caught 77 percent of his targets during the past two games and consistently finds ways to get open. The priority should be approaching or surpassing double-digit targets for Smith. He’s ready to be a bona fide No. 1 receiver.
4. A major change for the Eagles defense last week was using Darius Slay to shadow D.J. Moore, the Panthers’ No. 1 receiver. Moore was held to his least productive game of the season. Gannon said the decision was specific to the Panthers and wouldn’t necessarily be used every week.
“He is a premium corner,” Gannon said. “Most of the premium corners in the league like that challenge because that shows — it’s their ability to show everyone that they are premium corners when you can go shut out a top guy. But he also knows that if it’s not the right thing for us that week, then he will do what we ask of him. So he has been really good with that as far as saying, ‘OK, well, I want to go versus this guy.’ ‘Yeah, but it’s not the best thing for everybody else, Slay.’ ‘OK, I got it.’ ‘Hey, this week we want you to go with DJ.’ ‘OK, got it.’ So, he has been awesome to be around.”
Ever since Slay came to Philadelphia, he has expressed a desire to follow the opposing team’s top receivers. There are certain games when it makes sense to keep Slay on a given side because of the matchup, but it would behoove Gannon to consider using Slay this way more often. The Eagles are paying Slay to be an elite player and need to treat him as such. They should figure out how they can maximize Slay and plan their coverages accordingly, rather than fit Slay into their coverages.
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5. It appears Watkins is usurping Jalen Reagor as the No. 2 wide receiver. Watkins out-snapped Reagor for the first time this season (55 snaps to 47 snaps) against the Panthers and has been more productive this season (13 catches on 17 targets for 267 yards versus 17 catches on 25 targets for 140 yards). His ability to stretch the field has added a dimension to the offense that the Eagles had hoped Reagor would provide. Watkins has been better as a deep threat and in space. This is not to say Reagor won’t be a major piece of the offense, but it seems the Eagles must manufacture touches for Reagor.
It’s also worth noting that Reagor took over Watkins’ role as the top kick returner. Special-teams coordinator Michael Clay said the change was made because Watkins nursed an injury during practice last week, although it could also be because of Watkins’ growing offensive role. If Watkins out-snaps Reagor again Thursday, it will be further evidence of a change on the depth chart.
6. Lane Johnson will miss his third consecutive game because of a personal matter. Sirianni said he’s hopeful Johnson will return this season, but there’s no firm answer as to when — or if — Johnson will play right tackle for the Eagles in 2021.
“Not going to go into that any more than that, but we’re hopeful to have him back because we know how important Lane is to this football team,” Sirianni said.
Johnson visited the team facility last week. He met with longtime teammate Jason Kelce, who has known Johnson since 2013. Kelce did not want to comment on whether Johnson will return.
“Just wish the best for him — everybody in here loves that guy,” Kelce said. “He’s such a great personality, a great person to be around. A guy who makes our room a lot more fun, a lot more energetic. He’s obviously a great football player. Just wish him nothing but the best. Can’t say enough good things about Lane Johnson.”
7. Pay attention to Jalen Hurts against the blitz on Thursday. The Bucs have blitzed on 40.9 percent of passing plays this season, which ranks No. 1 in the NFL. Hurts is 30-of-53 for 480 yards and four touchdowns against the blitz this season. He’s been blitzed on 30.4 percent of his pass attempts, according to Sportradar. Hurts was especially adept against the blitz in Week 1 against Atlanta.
“You want to know where your answers are, you want to play fast and just be responsive to what you’re seeing,” Hurts said.
At the risk of repeating myself in this space each week, the Eagles must find more ways to take advantage of Hurts’ legs. It cannot just be with RPOs but also with designed runs. They’re putting too much on Hurts’ shoulders in the passing game.
The Eagles aren’t going to run the ball with their running backs often against Tampa Bay, which has the NFL’s best run defense and is undermanned at cornerback. But it makes little sense to have Hurts as the starting quarterback and not to lean into what he does best. His game-winning touchdown run against Carolina was evidence of how effective he can be on the ground, especially in the red zone. That must be a staple of the Eagles offense.
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8. The Eagles are 6-0 in Thursday night games over the past five years, five of which were short-week games (one was the season opener in 2018, so there was ample time to prepare). This streak was one of the most impressive parts of Doug Pederson’s record. Pederson said his success had to do with simplifying the game plan and sticking with base plays — “training-camp-type plays,” Pederson called them — which raises the question of why didn’t he do this all the time? (Pederson’s wife used to joke with him about this, too.)
The Eagles have a new coaching staff, so the record is clean. And the Eagles are heavy home underdogs. But watch how they handle the quick turnaround. They’ve already discussed how they can’t put much new into the game plan for this week and they’re limited to walk-throughs. They put the game plan together at Sirianni’s home on Sunday night after the team flight back from Charlotte.
There’s a perception that players don’t like Thursday night games, but Kelce is not one of them. He’s said he likes these games because it’s a concentrated period of hard work for three days, an intense game and then players get a mini-bye during the weekend. Considering the Eagles’ bye week isn’t until December, the veteran center is welcoming the time off.
(Top photo of Zach Ertz: Andy Lewis / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)