5 Eagles In Position To Improve Standing Vs. Patriots

Thursday night's preseason game figures to be important for a host of Philadelphia reserves.

Eagles DT Marlon Tuipulotu / John McMullen/Eagles SI

The Eagles will play their second of three preseason games on Thursday night in Foxborough. The starters got their heavy lifting done in a joint practice with the Patriots on Tuesday, something that turns the dress rehearsal into an opportunity for a host of players trying to seize roles and/or roster spots.

Here are the five Eagles players who could really improve their standing with a strong performance against the Pats:

LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. - The legacy fifth-round pick can rest assured when it comes to a roster spot. A strong summer has thrust the idea that the rookie could get on the field in a meaningful fashion sooner rather than later at what is an uncertain position for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

An instinctive player, Trotter made a splash at practice Tuesday undercutting veteran receiver K.J. Osborn to intercept Jacoby Brissett. The next step is more consistency in eliminating some of the play-to-play hiccups in coverage.

DT Marlon Tuipulotu - The fourth-year player was notably skipped when Fangio was asked about the potential game-day backup to nose tackle Jordan Davis over the weekend.

That might have been an extemporaneous oversight but Fangio tends to dot all the i's and cross his t’s when it comes to messaging so it was more likely the latter.

The 307-pound Tuipulotu delivered to the reporters present Tuesday by affecting the running game with penetration. Another strong performance in the game could put Tuipulotu back in the mix as Davis’ game-day backup.

OL Tyler Steen - An ankle injury that cost Steen more than a week put the second-year player behind a rather large 8-ball in Mekhi Becton for the starting right guard spot.

That doesn’t mean Steen will not be a valuable reserve though and the tackle reps, a position Steen’s more comfortable with anyway, could be coming to increase his game-day versatility.

WR Jacob Harris - Recently there has been a notable uptick in Harris' work as a core special-teamer for Michal Clay. He was working with the top gunners downing Braden Mann punts over the weekend and that expanded to a key role on one kickoff coverage in Foxborough.

The shift could just be inserting Harris for the injured Grant Calcaterra (shoulder) as a placeholder with Clay trying to tap into the 4.39 speed Harris has on a 6-foot-5 frame while he's still around.

If Harris couples solid special teams reps with a play or two at WR where the Eagles’ backups outside the numbers have been underwhelming, the Central Florida product could make a late run at a roster spot.

S Tristin McCollum - On the surface, the numbers game doesn’t look good for McCollum. That said, he played well in the preseason opener at Baltimore, and continuing to stack good preseason performances may pay off if the cards fall right on the back end.

Veteran James Bradberry is still a trade candidate, the Eagles will likely play it cautious with the rehabbing Sydney Brown (ACL) at the start of the season,  and Fangio favorite Caden Sterns didn’t exactly look healthy when arriving in Philadelphia last Sunday.

Another strong McCollum performance could make the Eagles feel a little more comfortable moving Bradberry and enable the team to keep it cautious with Brown (PUP) and Sterns (IR) at the initial cut down to 53.

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