The Eagles protected four players on Tuesday, including one with Super Bowl lineage.
With practice squads expanded to 16 players, teams may safeguard four guys in the week leading up to Sunday’s game. Philadelphia put DB Grayland Arnold, WR Deontay Burnett, C Luke Juriga, DT T.Y. McGill on their list for Week 3.
The Eagles also placed injured left guard Isaac Seumalo on short-term IR, a move Doug Pederson announced at Monday’s press conference. Matt Pryor is expected to take Seumalo’s starting spot on the offensive line, although it’s not out of the question for the team to work Jamon Brown into the mix. Rookie Jack Driscoll has been mentioned as well.
Brown has started 47 regular-season games in his six-year NFL career, almost exclusively at left and right guard. Juriga is an interesting name to keep in mind moving forward after he earned the highest guaranteed contract ($160,000) for any Eagles’ undrafted rookie free agent. The Western Michigan product didn’t miss a single start in college (52 games: 38 at right guard, 14 at center) while earning a reputation as a dominant run-blocker. Juriga’s father, Jim, played three seasons for the Broncos and started at left guard in Super Bowl XXIV.
“Honestly, I feel comfortable at either,” Juriga told Mile High Huddle when asked about his best position. “I played the majority of my career at guard, but then our team needed me to play center.”
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Eagles Have Open Spot with Seumalo on IR
Philadelphia has one open roster spot after placing Seumalo on short-term IR. He’s out for at least three weeks with a knee injury. The Eagles could move a practice-squad player to the active roster or scan the waiver wire to fill that vacancy.
McGill saw 16 defensive snaps in Week 1 and recorded half a sack remains a logical choice to call up, especially with Javon Hargrave on the mend at defensive tackle. The defensive line didn’t have one of their best days last week against Los Angeles, aside from Brandon Graham’s lone sack. The five-year veteran could provide a spark.
Of course, there’s always the possibility the Eagles hit the waiver wire. The linebackers were exposed in Week 2 and options remain out there. Heavy.com already explored those underwhelming possibilities. But Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz shot the notion down during his press availability on Tuesday.
“I’m very confident in our guys. I’m very confident in our players,” Schwartz told reporters of his linebackers. “We just need to get back to our formula. I need to put them in better positions. We need to keep improving over the course of the year.”
The Eagles have also been consistently tied to adding a veteran running back, although Devonta Freeman is off the market after inking a deal with the Giants to replace Saquon Barkley. Freeman visited Philadelphia over the weekend but left without a contract.
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