Cornerback Jakorian Bennett is back on the active roster for the Eagles.
Bennett played in the first three games of the season before being placed on injured reserve due to a pectoral injury. Bennett had six tackles and a pass defensed in those appearances.
The Eagles acquired Bennett in a trade with the Raiders over the summer and he will be taking the roster spot of a more recent trade addition.
Cornerback Jaire Alexander was placed on the reserve/retired list. Word came on Tuesday that Alexander, who was acquired in a trade with the Ravens earlier this month, is stepping away from football to focus on his physical and mental health.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell says there are a lot of things he and his team will spend more time on than the tush push as they prepare to face the Eagles on Sunday night.
“The tush push is the least of my concerns,” Campbell said on 97.1 The Ticket. “I know it’s gonna show up and it’s a good play for them, but we’ve got a lot of other things we’ve got to defend before that.”
The Lions were one of 10 NFL teams that voted not to ban the tush push when it came to a vote over the offseason and was narrowly kept legal. To change a playing rule, at least 24 teams needed to vote to ban it, and in the end 22 teams voted to ban it. But just because Campbell didn’t want it outlawed, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t recognize it might be used effectively against his team.
“There’s nothing easy about defending it. It’s hard. The good news is, they’re not hiding it. You know what’s coming,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the Lions won’t work on stopping the tush push at full speed in practice.
“You can’t really practice that per se, full speed,” Campbell said. “I’m not going to line our guys up and say we’re going to go 100 miles an hour on tush push eight times today. It’s just more about the technique, how you want to defend it, what you want to do. We’ve got some pretty good dudes that know how to play with leverage.”
And more importantly for Campbell is that the Lions keep the Eagles out of the short-yardage situations when they use the tush push.
Eagles cornerback Jaire Alexander is stepping away from football, for now.
Via Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, Alexander has decided to “focus on getting himself right physically and mentally before deciding on his future.”
Alexander, who recently was traded by Baltimore to Philadelphia, informed the team of his decision on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old Alexander was a first-round pick of the Packers in the 2018 draft. In 2022, he signed a four-year, $84 million extension in Green Bay.
The Packers released Alexander in June. He signed a one-year deal with the Ravens, appearing in two games this season before being traded to the Eagles.
Alexander was downgraded to out on Sunday by the Eagles and didn’t travel to Green Bay for Monday night’s game against the Packers. The team cited his knee injury and a coach’s decision.
Dan Campbell is preparing his Lions to play in Philadelphia against the Eagles on Sunday night, and he’s going to tell his team about his own experiences playing in front of Philly fans.
Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket that he has fond memories of all the awful things Eagles fans did when he was on the road there during his playing career.
“It’s a great place to play,” Campbell said. “It’s electric. Had batteries thrown at us, spit on, just the classic stuff. It’s probably the most hostile place to play. Going into the stadium, leaving it, during the game. Things have backed off a lot now since back in the day — some of these things you can’t do anymore.”
As a rookie in 1999, Campbell was playing for the Giants, and teammate Michael Strahan intercepted a pass and took it to the house in overtime to win the game against the Eagles. Campbell told a repulsive story about what a Philly fan with end zone seats did to Strahan during the ensuing celebration on the field.
“We all go back to meet him, and it was like a 64-ounce cup this guy had that was full of tobacco spit, and I’m running over there celebrating and he pours it on Strahan’s back while everybody is running over there,” Campbell said. “I backed off at the last minute. Just stuff like that. It’s a hostile environment, it gets you fired up. I’ll make sure our guys are prepared, They’re going to love this. Our guys are going to embrace this . This is fun stuff.”
Campbell said he’s preparing his players for a big game in Philadelphia, taking on the reigning Super Bowl champions on Sunday night.
“I’m going to give them a very good snapshot of what this is going to be like,” Campbell said. “Keep your poise, and every play matters. This is a heavyweight match. One misstep can cost you this game. That shouldn’t make you tight, that shouldn’t make you play conservative, just understand it’s going to take all three units and every play you’ve got to give it your full attention, and lay it on the freakin’ line. You can’t ask for anything better. Our guys are going to be so excited to play in this one. Our coaches are excited to coach in it. This is big-time football on Sunday night. We’re fired up.”
After two straight home wins to start the season, the Packers looked to be squarely in the Super Bowl window. Now, after losing two straight home games (and scoring 20 total points in losses to the Panthers and Eagles), Green Bay may not make it to the postseason.
With eight games to play and a record of 5-3-1, is coach Matt LaFleur coaching for his job?
He was asked that question after Monday night’s 10-7 loss to the Eagles.
“I’ll leave that for everybody else to decide,” LaFleur said, via Matt Schneidman of TheAthletic.com. “I’ll just focus on the day-to-day. . . . I feel like you’re always coaching for everything in this league, you know? That’s just my mindset. It’s always been that way. You can’t ever exhale. You gotta always be pushing. That’s just my mindset and that will be my mindset ’til they tell me not to coach anymore.”
There’s one person with the ultimate power to make the decision. And new Packers president Ed Policy made it clear in June that, for both LaFleur and G.M. Brian Gutekunst, 2025 will be an important year.
Their contracts run through 2026. Policy said they would not get new deals until after the current season. Policy also downplayed the idea that either LaFleur or Gutekunst would work as lame ducks next year, saying such an approach “creates a lot of issues.”
So it likely will be either new deals or pink slips. In June, Policy said of LaFleur, Gutekunst, and director of football operations Russ Ball, “I love them. I trust them. I respect them.”
That’s the good news, for each of them. The bad news is that the Packers suddenly aren’t good enough, with an offense that lacks rhythm or punch or unpredictability. So, yes, the next eight games will be a factor in what happens next, especially if the Packers don’t happen to make it to the postseason for only the second time this decade.
