Eagles make surprising, expected roster moves before battle with Cowboys

It’s been called a ‘war of attrition’ and a ‘marathon, not a sprint’. The NFL season isn’t very long when you think about it. In total, we’re discussing an 18-week, 17-game regular season before we watch three weeks worth of playoff games to determine who represents the AFC and NFC in February’s Super Bowl. The team that winds up hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy will have earned it, and if that team winds up being the Philadelphia Eagles will have quite the story to tell about their journey.

Just look at what has happened since we watched Philly vanquish the Chicago Bears during a frigid Week 15 battle in the Windy City. We found out Jalen Hurts injured his shoulder. Dallas Godert was activated from the injured reserve back to the active 53-man roster. It was learned that Zach Pascal had endured an unfortunate head injury, and we found out eight Birds made the Pro Bowl roster while nine more were named as alternates.

Hopefully, these guys will be playing in the aforementioned Super Bowl which means they’ll sit out of the all-star proceedings, but we’re getting too far ahead of ourselves. First things first. The Eagles have a date with the hated Dallas Cowboys. A win in that one would secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

The Eagles announce both surprising and expected roster moves ahead of their game versus the Cowboys.

With everything that has happened as of late, it feels like we’ve endured two weeks, but it’s actually a short one. That means everything that we typically expect during the normal work week shifted forward a day. The status report that we normally see at around 4 p.m. EST on Saturday was released on Friday.

Both expected and surprising announcements were made. Practice squad punter Brett Kern was elevated from the scout team to the active roster. That isn’t shocking. Teams need a punter, you know? Reserve linebacker/special-teamer Christian Elliss has been added to the active roster as he’s already been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster the maximum amount of times that the NFL allows (three).

To make room Tyree Jackson has been placed on injured reserve. Zach Pascal has been moved from ‘questionable’ status to ‘no designation’. It isn’t often that we see guys who are in the concussion protocol cleared while the team is traveling, but it will still be interesting to see if he plays. The Birds board a plane to fly south on Friday.

Keep an eye on Zach. It would be nice to see him give it a go. Without having Jalen Hurts in the lineup, it would be an advantage to see all offensive hands on deck to assist Gardner Minshew.

Oh, and did you notice? Reed Blankenship is set to go. After injuring his knee versus the New York Giants in Week 14, he wound up only sitting out one game.