The Eagles had four offensive linemen listed as limited in Wednesday’s practice. Only center Cam Jurgens (knee) remained limited on Thursday.
Jurgens has not played since Week 7.
Right tackle Lane Johnson (ankle), left guard Landon Dickerson (quad) and right guard Tyler Steen (oblique) were full participants on Thursday.
Johnson’s ankle injury looked serious in the first half of Monday night’s game. But he later returned and ended up playing 37 snaps, the same as his replacement, Fred Johnson.
Long snapper Cal Adomitis (finger), cornerback Jakorian Bennett (pectoral), wide receiver Darius Cooper (shoulder), offensive lineman Willie Lampkin (knee/ankle) and outside linebacker Nolan Smith (triceps) again were full participants.
Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was one of seven Lions players to miss practice on Wednesday, but he was back on the field Thursday.
Hutchinson, who is listed with an elbow injury, was back to full practice participation. The Lions also listed right tackle Penei Sewell (ankle), running back Sione Vaki (ankle), and tight end Brock Wright (ankle) as limited participants after they were sidelined to start the practice week.
Tight end Sam LaPorta (back), cornerback Terrion Arnold (concussion), and safety Kerby Joseph (knee) missed practice for the second straight day. Defensive lineman Pat O’Connor (knee) was also out of practice after being limited on Wednesday.
Edge rusher Marcus Davenport (shoulder), left tackle Taylor Decker (shoulder), guard Miles Frazier (knee), edge rusher Josh Paschal (back), cornerback D.J. Reed (hamstring), and running back Jacob Saylors (back) remained limited. Center Graham Glasgow (back) and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez (knee) were listed as full participants.
Through nine games this season, Lions quarterback Jared Goff leads the league with a 74 percent completion rate.
He’s thrown for 2,235 yards with 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions, leading to a career-high 117.7 passer rating. His 1.1 percent interception rate is also a career low.
Head coach Dan Campbell has been with Goff for the last five seasons. Does he think the quarterback is playing his best football?
“I just feel like he’s gotten better every year, that’s me. So yeah, I guess to answer that question, yes, I do,” Campbell said in his Wednesday press conference. “I think he’s settled into his own to where he just continues to take it another notch and just continues to get better. Process information, the game slows down for him. He’s playing at a high level.
“[S]imply in this walkthrough, this is the first taste of this gameplan going into Philly. What he — it’s just unbelievable, what he’s able to grasp, retain, get us into the right play, and we literally just gave it to him. You don’t even have time to digest it. You’re running onto the field and now you’re going through it, you’re walking through it. That’s one of his superpowers, right? He plays with the gray matter, and he’s got the ability to put it on the spot in tight coverage. I think that’s rare to have both. But he knows what helps him and what makes him who he is. He’s got to be able to rely on that. He’s not a guy who’s going to be able to — he’s not Lamar Jackson. So, he leans on what his abilities and skills are. He’s playing at a high level.”
Goff is coming off his fourth Pro Bowl season and second with Detroit. If he continues to play well and leads the Lions to another division title, he’ll be on his way to at least another Pro Bowl berth.
The frustrations continue for Eagles receiver A.J. Brown. And those frustrations continue to manifest themselves in various ways.
On Tuesday night, Brown said during a Twitch stream, “If you got me on fantasy, man, get rid of me.”
On Wednesday, he declined to apologize for the comments he made in that setting.
“After the game, I said all the right answers, and y’all still made a story,” Brown told reporters. “In that moment where I’m just talking to my friend, having fun with my friend, I’m not apologizing for that. . . . If you have eyes, you can see that, and so it’s not like I was throwing anybody under the bus. I’m literally trying to laugh through this shit. This shit is tough. But I’m trying to make fun of the situation and to try to get through it.”
Brown otherwise attempted to explain his lingering frustrations by saying that they arise from a desire for the offense to improve.
“Last year, what it was, ‘Thank you for the ring,’” Brown said. “But it’s a new season. [Defenses] adapted, we have to adapt. And we have to continue to like get better and find new ways.”
Brown wants the team to come up with ways that will make better use of his skills and abilities.
“We do need to do a better job of creating for me, trying to help put me in a situation to help to contribute,” Brown said. “But right now it just feels as if I’m screwing it up for everybody.”
He wants to not screw things up. He wants to make a positive difference.
“I see the offense struggling, and I want to help contribute,” Brown said. “And I didn’t get those opportunities. And so, like, I’m gonna have a problem with that, especially with the player that I am, and especially with the player like you want me to be.”
The overriding point is that Brown wants to see the offense perform more efficiently and successfully.
“We can’t just keep slapping a Band-Aid over the defense doing their job and getting us out of trouble,” Brown said. “At what point are we going to pick up our slack as an offense that we say we’re so great? . . . And that’s what I’m getting at. It’s not about, ‘I don’t care about winning, all I care about is stats.’ No. It’s been week after week sometimes we’re not contributing, we’re not doing our job on offense. You can’t keep slapping a Band-Aid over that and expect to win late in the year and think you’re going to go to that at the end of the year. It’s not going to fucking happen.”
Brown knows that, by speaking out, not everyone will understand that his concerns flow from a desire to improve the offense, and not from wanting to get the ball in his hands more often.
“I don’t care if I’m misunderstood, like, I’ll stand up in front of that and fall on that sword over and over again,” Brown said. “Like, it’s about doing what we’re supposed to be doing on offense. And if we are really in this business for trying to get better, we gotta do what we gotta do. And not just say, ‘Oh, it’s about wins, like, as long as we got the win, it’s cool.’ No, that ain’t — you cannot do that, not in this league. We gotta continue to get better.”
Currently, the Eagles’ offense lacks a true identity. Against the Vikings, they threw the ball effectively. Against the Giants, they ran it effectively. Against the Packers (and during other games), it seemed as if the Eagles were using a random play generator — with the exception of the deployment of the tush push during short-yardage situations.
The next challenge comes on Sunday night, against the Lions. And while a win will be nice, Brown believes it will be much nicer to see the offense improving as the regular season inches closer and closer to the playoffs.
As to the question of whether Brown should be so open about his frustrations, this isn’t new. The Eagles could have tried to trade him. They didn’t.
It will be interesting to see whether that changes when the 2025 season ends. How it ends for the Eagles may have a lot to do with that.
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson had his left ankle rolled in the first half Monday night. He later returned and ended up playing 37 snaps, the same as his replacement, Fred Johnson.
The good news for the Eagles is: Lane Johnson is listed with a limited practice on Wednesday’s estimated report.
The Eagles also had left guard Landon Dickerson (quad), right guard Tyler Steen (oblique) and center Cam Jurgens (knee) also listed as limited. Jurgens has not played since Week 7.
Long snapper Cal Adomitis (finger), cornerback Jakorian Bennett (pectoral), wide receiver Darius Cooper (shoulder), offensive lineman Willie Lampkin (knee/ankle) and outside linebacker Nolan Smith (triceps) were full participants.
