Top 3 Philadelphia Eagles concerns heading into Week 1

3. Are we really yelling ‘next man up’ for this Philadelphia Eagles team this early?

Right after the NFL Draft in April, we were talking about the possibility of seeing DeSean Jackson, Marquise Goodwin, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Greg Ward, and Jalen Reagor in the lineup and making plays for the Philadelphia Eagles come Week 1.

Then, Goodwin opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns, and we began talking about when Philly might place Alshon Jeffery on the physically unable to perform list and whether or not he’d be added to the team’s injured reserve by the time we made it to the regular season.

John Hightower and Quez Watkins proved that they belonged on this Eagles team during camp, but Watkins got hurt and is currently on the IR, where Jeffery should be. The only thing is, though hurt, Jeffery is actually on the active roster which might mean that Philly believes that he may be ready soon. We just know that he won’t be ready Week 1.

That means the Eagles plan to go into battle with ‘JJAW’, ‘D-Jax’, John Hightower, and Greg Ward. That isn’t quite what we were expecting a couple of months ago, but that’s life in the NFL. The ‘next man up’ mantra is being tossed around a lot, and this team hasn’t played a game yet. Oh, and that’s just what’s going on with the wide receivers.

Will Parks is hurt. Lane Johnson and Derek Barnett have both dealt with something, and Vinny Curry isn’t one-hundred percent either. The good news is these guys will be back, and it’s sometimes better to lose guys earlier than later. The bad news is this could be another long and injury-plagued year for the ‘Birds’. Let’s hope it’s the former and not the latter.