Pre-Season Week 1 Recap: Eagles 7, Ravens 24

Trotter and Payton shine, Cooper keeps rising and Rookies flash!

Cole Payton was a surprise high point from a disappointing loss vs the Ravens. [Credit: Heavy.com]

Preseason football is dangerous.

Not only can injuries scupper roster plans, but also because every August we collectively convince ourselves that a fourth-string safety is the next Brian Dawkins, because he broke up a pass against a receiver, who’ll be selling insurance in three weeks.

So, let’s get the obvious out of the way.

The Eagles lost 24-7 to the Baltimore Ravens. It wasn’t particularly pretty. It wasn’t particularly entertaining for long stretches either. And none of that really matters. What does matter is what we learned about some of the players fighting for roles on this football team. And Saturday night gave us plenty to talk about.

Willie Lampkin, Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru are all names you’ll likely hear on podcasts and in articles following the Ravens game, so I’ve left them out and focused on other key positional battles.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. looks like a stud.

Let’s start with the easiest one. Axeman Jr. was everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Early in the game, he came flying through the line for a tackle for loss. Shortly afterwards, he was in the backfield again, combining with Ty Robinson to get to the quarterback.

That first quarter felt like a statement from Trotter.

The Eagles have plenty of talent at linebacker. But it was a reminder that Trotter belongs in the conversation for meaningful defensive snaps – maybe even ahead of Jihaad.  What impressed me most wasn’t just the production. It was how quickly he was diagnosing what Baltimore was doing. He looked decisive.

There’s a huge difference between a linebacker who runs quickly, and a linebacker who plays quickly. Trotter was doing the latter. He also brings something that Philadelphia is always going to love: physicality. Maybe the name makes us all slightly biased. That’s unavoidable. But forget the name for a second and just watch the player.

Jeremiah Trotter Jr picked up a sack on the night. [Credit: Philadelphia Eagles]

Ty Robinson needed a night like this!

If Trotter was the headline defensively, Ty Robinson deserves plenty of credit alongside him.

Robinson has been one of those players I’ve been watching closely because this is a big summer for him. The Eagles’ defensive line room is brutally competitive. Being a draft pick doesn’t guarantee you anything here. Eventually you’ve got to show that you can contribute.

Against Baltimore, Robinson did exactly that.

His sack with Trotter was the obvious highlight, but there were other snaps where he was creating disruption inside and making life uncomfortable for the Ravens’ offensive line. This is exactly what you want from preseason football.

You’re looking for flashes that make you think: Robinson gave us some of those.

Cooper looks like an NFL starting receiver.

Darius Cooper just keeps making his case. One of the biggest stories of Eagles training camp has been Darius Cooper. And Saturday didn’t change my opinion of him.

There’s a confidence to the way he’s playing right now that wasn’t necessarily there when we first saw him. He’s physical. He’s willing to do the dirty work. He competes as a blocker. And when the football comes his way, he looks increasingly comfortable.

If you’re lower down the receiver depth chart, you need to do other things. Special teams. Blocking. Playing multiple roles. Doing the boring stuff. Cooper seems to understand that. Training camp buzz is fun, but eventually you need to see it translate when another team is standing across from you. I thought Cooper continued to make his case. He’s definitely made the team.

The question now is: how high up the WR roster can he go?

The QB2 battle became less clear.

Then we get to quarterback. And, well… I’m not sure we learned anything good from Dalton or McKee. That was probably the most frustrating part of the night.

Coming into this game, quarterback was one of the most interesting battles on the roster. With legitimate questions about how the depth chart should shake out. Dalton is the veteran. He’s supposed to provide stability and experience. But if the Eagles eventually decide they don’t need him, you’d also like him playing well enough to generate some trade interest elsewhere.

McKee has shown enough during his time in Philadelphia to make people believe he can be a very capable NFL backup. But this wasn’t some emphatic ‘the job is mine’ performance from him either.

And then, amusingly, the quarterback who produced the most exciting offensive sequence of the night was Cole Payton.

Cole Payton finally gave the offense a pulse!

By the fourth quarter, the Eagles’ offense had spent most of the night doing very little. Then the rookie came in and suddenly things got interesting. Payton led the Eagles’ only touchdown drive of the night, eventually connecting with Erik Ezukanma for the score. It wasn’t enough to change the result, but it was enough for fans to get excited about what he could become.

Payton is fascinating because he’s different from the other backup quarterbacks in the room. Not only is he far more athletic, but he’s raw, a lefty and tries the audacious.  And unlike Dalton or McKee, there isn’t really an expectation that he needs to be ready to play meaningful NFL football tomorrow.

He’s a developmental quarterback, there’s no doubt, and that’s why Saturday was encouraging. You want flashes. You want moments where physical ability becomes obvious. We got them.

The Eagles drafted Payton because there are traits there worth developing. One preseason touchdown drive doesn’t suddenly mean he’s challenging for QB2. But he gave the coaches something to work with. And after watching the offense struggle for most of the evening, he also gave the rest of us something to enjoy.

Other Notable Contributions:

1.       Will Shipley

Will gave us something to think about with a couple of good runs. When he gets into space, there’s something there. He’s quick. He’s decisive. And he can contribute in multiple phases of the game. Right now, it’s clear he is Running Back Number 3 on the roster.

2.       Markel Bell

Bell had some really nice moments. There were snaps where he simply moved people. And for an offensive lineman, sometimes the analysis doesn’t need to be much more complicated than that.

Bell has enormous physical tools and he’s still developing, but you can see why the Eagles have been willing to invest time in him.

He’s not a finished product. But there’s something there, and it will be interesting if he is Lane Johnson’s successor – or if they draft high in next year’s draft with Markel becoming a swing tackle or perhaps even a move inside to guard if Dickerson retires. Zach Berman of the Athletic isn’t so sure he is Lane’s replacement in waiting, like some other beat writers out there are, and said as much on Sheil Kapadia’s The Ringer Philly Special Podcast last week.  One to monitor for sure.

3.       Kelee Ringo  

Kelee Ringo might be one of the strangest players on this roster to evaluate. Sometimes you watch him and think he has absolutely everything required to be a starting NFL corner. Size. Speed. Physicality. Experience.

Then you’ll get a stretch where things don’t quite come together. Against Baltimore, though, he made one of the defensive plays of the night. The interception was exactly what Ringo needed. Especially as he had already had two busted plays before.

There aren’t many easy roster spots or guaranteed roles available. So splash plays matter.

4.       Shaun Wade:

Shaun Wade might have had one of the most interesting performances of the entire game.

Because, like Ringo, it wasn’t perfect. He got beaten early, with broken ankles on a route, but never gave up, chased down the play from behind and punched the ball out to create a turnover.

It was another example of Wade refusing to disappear after something went wrong. That matters. Preseason isn’t only about evaluating whether somebody wins every rep. Coaches are watching what happens after they lose one.

It’s preseason. But it still matters.

The Eagles lost 24-7 and nobody should care about that. Seriously.

If Philadelphia goes 0-3 in preseason and then wins the Super Bowl, I promise none of us will be sitting at the parade saying:

“Yeah, but remember that Ravens game?” 

Holistically, it doesn’t matter, the individual performances and flashes do; Jeremiah Trotter Jr. looked fast, physical and decisive, Ty Robinson showed signs that he can become part of this defensive line rotation and Darius Cooper continued a summer that increasingly looks like it will end with him on the roster. and with all the other flashes, snippets and 'plays in a vacuum', there will always be plenty to draw from these pre-season games.

The score will just never be one of them!

What's next?

The Eagles now move on to what the media is touting as the highlight of the pre-season, the joint-practices with the New England Patriots and the inevitable AJ Brown saga will gain a new chapter! As we are bombarded with micro-analytics of body language, lip reading and perceived effort from AJ, Hurts and the Eagles Defence, who will be keen to make their own statement in the case. Joint Practices take place on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th August, with the pre-season warm up coming to us at 7pm EST (Midnight UK) on Saturday 22nd.

Go Birds.