Philadelphia Eagles: Johnathan Cyprien, Orlando Scandrick may be locked in
Philadelphia Eagles defensive backs Johnathan Cyprien, and Orlando Scandrick are not expected to play in Preseason Week Four.
Soon, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets will kick-off for the final preseason game of the NFL offseason. This weekend, 32 rosters across the league will be finalized with 53 men on each squad. Then, every team will prepare for the first week of the regular season.
Every year it doesn’t get any easier for teams and players around this time. Being that every team employs 90 total men on a roster for the offseason, a good chunk of those players will get released and sent off into free agency. Some may get picked up elsewhere — others could land on a practice squad. And worst of all, some do not make it back to the NFL.
For the younger players, they are fortunate enough to make it to the practice squad most of the time. But for older veterans, this is really their only shot. The Eagles have been rolling with a handful of players who are not practice squad eligible, but who have legitimate chances of actually cracking the final 53-man roster this weekend.
Those players are gearing up for a critical fourth game of the preseason though. As the locks on the Eagles won’t even suit up, it gives those players who are fighting for a roster spot an opportunity to showcase their skills one more time.
We’ve seen a list of all the players who won’t get the green light to go on Thursday. Shockingly enough, two players who were initially question marks to make the squad were present with those who are apparently locked in on the final roster. Veteran safety Johnathan Cyprien and veteran cornerback Orlando Scandrick were amongst that group.
Here's the actual list of Eagles players doing conditioning before the game and presumably not playing tonight.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) August 29, 2019
Tip of the hat to @DZangaroNBCS, who actually sat in the press box with his binoculars and identified all of them! pic.twitter.com/o9aSMQvNPa
When the Eagles signed Johnathan Cyprien at the beginning of camp, it didn’t make much sense at the time. It felt like the team was genuinely high on former Rams safety Blake Countess, and they clearly had high hopes for the youngster, Tre Sullivan.
Well, a few weeks back the Eagles got rid of Countess and his contract with an injury settlement. And most recently, they waived Tre Sullivan, leaving Cyprien as the clear favorite to make the team behind Andrew Sendejo who was already assumed to be a lock from the beginning.
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While Cyprien’s status isn’t all that surprising, Scandrick’s actually is. He wasn’t precisely dominating in training camp or the preseason, but the Eagles are most likely going to hold on to him as the cornerbacks unit continues to nurse multiple injuries.
Keep in mind, Cre’Von LeBlanc is rumored to be out until November with a foot injury potentially. Jalen Mills, on the other hand, hasn’t even come off the PUP yet for the Eagles. That right there solidifies that the Eagles need to keep somebody around for depth purposes and Scandrick makes total sense in this case.