During last week, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said 2019 second-round pick J.J. Arcega-Whiteside would still have a role on offense when he returned.
Well, JJAW returned on Sunday and didn’t have much of a role.
Here’s a look at WR snap counts from Sunday’s 38-29 loss to the Steelers:
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- John Hightower: 48 snaps (81%)
- Travis Fulgham: 46 (78%)
- Greg Ward: 41 (69%)
- Arcega-Whiteside: 8 (14%)
- Quez Watkins: 5 (8%)
Arcega-Whiteside played 8 snaps and had 1 catch for 37 yards — it was the last play of the first half. Remember, the Eagles are still hoping to get DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery and Jalen Reagor back this season. So what happens to JJAW then? He barely plays on offense now and he doesn’t play special teams. Will the Eagles really keep him around just because he was a second-round pick?
Of the receiver group, Fulgham clearly had the best game on Sunday. He caught 10 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown. He caught as many balls Sunday as Arcega-Whiteside had his entire rookie season.
Offensive snap count notes
NFL
• Carson Wentz and 4/5 of the starting offensive line played all 59 snaps. Lane Johnson played 39 snaps before coming out of the game, getting replaced by Jack Driscoll. Driscoll took the rest of the snaps at right tackle and got a couple as an extra blocker.
• Jason Kelce and Nate Herbig haven’t missed a snap this year — they’re both 351/351 this season.
• Zach Ertz played 56 snaps and had 1 catch on 6 targets for 6 yards. Richard Rodgers played 19 snaps and had one catch for 18 yards. Jason Croom, elevated from the practice squad, got 2 snaps.
• Miles Sanders (50 snaps), led the way for running backs. Boston Scott got just seven snaps and Corey Clement just three.
Defensive snap count notes
• Rodney McLeod and Nate Gerry played all 75 defensive snaps. For McLeod, he has now played in all 359 defensive snaps this season.
• Gerry played every snap followed by Duke Riley (56), Alex Singleton (28) and Shaun Bradley (4). The Eagles really backed themselves into a corner by failing to put more resources into this position. They have a third-round pick on the bench because of his limited football experience. Heck, maybe it’s time for more Bradley.
• Here’s a look at the DL rotation:
DT: Brandon Graham (57), Fletcher Cox (54), Derek Barnett (49), Javon Hargrave (49), Malik Jackson (37), Josh Sweat (28), Hassan Ridgeway (24), Genard Avery (14).
• At safety after McLeod, Marcus Epps got 54 snaps and K’Von Wallace got 13. I’d like to see more of the fourth-round pick.