John Hightower gets most snaps among WRs vs. Bengals

If you’re wondering about the state of the Eagles’ receiving corps look no further than this:

In the Eagles’ Week 3 tie, John Hightower played more snaps than any other receiver. Hightower is a fifth-round rookie from Boise State who entered Sunday’s game with one catch for negative-two yards.

Jalen Reagor was out with a thumb injury. DeSean Jackson left with a hamstring injury. And J.J. Arcega-Whiteside might have been injured too.

So Hightower played 78 of 91 offensive snaps (86%) in the Eagles’ 23-23 tie. For all their plans to fix the receiving corps this offseason, the Eagles still aren’t getting nearly enough from that position aside from Greg Ward Jr.

Hightower: 78 snaps, 3 targets, 2 catches, 19 yards

Ward: 76 snaps, 11 targets, 8 catches, 72 yards, 1 TD

Deontay Burnett: 39 snaps, 4 targets, 3 catches, 19 yards

Jackson: 28 snaps, 4 targets, 2 catches, 11 yards

Arcega-Whiteside: 18 snaps, 0 targets

Earlier in the week, Pederson said the team was going to rely more on Arcega-Whiteside with the absence of Reagor but that doesn’t seem like the case. Before Sunday’s game, JJAW was seen talking to Eagles personnel. NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark reported that Arcega-Whiteside had some “lower body discomfort” and the Eagles limited his snaps accordingly.

But it also seems entirely possible the Eagles aren’t playing Arcega-Whiteside because of his play. He hasn’t been good. And through three games, he has played 62 snaps without a catch.

Other offensive notes

• Overall, the Eagles ran a ton of plays and held the ball for over 37 minutes.

The Eagles ran 91 offensive plays Sunday. They’ve only had more twice - 96 in an OT loss to Washington at the Vet in 1976 and 95 in an overtime win in Seattle at the Kingdome in 1992 (the Seth Joyner “Rich Kotite is a puppet game).@pfref

— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) September 28, 2020

• The entire OL and Carson Wentz played 89 snaps together. Jason Peters missed two at the end of the game with an injury. We’ll find out more on his status this week.

• Miles Sanders played 71 snaps (78%) followed by Boston Scott (13) and Corey Clement (6). Sanders got 18 carries for 95 yards, which wasn’t a heavy enough workload.

• Dallas Goedert lasted just six snaps before hurting his ankle. Zach Ertz led the tight end with 84 of 91 snaps. Those 84 snaps are a career-high for Ertz, who had seven catches for 70 yards.

Offense

Defensive notes

• Cre’Von LeBlanc took over as the Eagles’ primary nickel corner on Sunday, playing 59 snaps, while Nickell Robey-Coleman played 26.

• T.J. Edwards took over for Duke Riley as the Eagles’ second linebacker. Edwards played 51 snaps to Riley’s 7. Nate Gerry played 70 of 72 snaps.

• Rodney McLeod was the only defensive player to not leave the field; he played all 72. Jalen Mills was right behind him with 71 snaps.

• Despite coming into the game with an oblique injury, Fletcher Cox led the defensive tackle rotation with 55 snaps (76%), followed by Malik Jackson (42), Javon Hargrave (32) and Hassan Ridgeway (15). Cox came into the game listed as questionable and not only played that much but made a huge impact, especially in overtime. Gutty performance from him.

• Brandon Graham led the DE rotation with 58 snaps. Josh Sweat started over Derek Barnett but both finished with 38 snaps. Genard Avery had just 11.

Defense