Philadelphia Eagles fans waited a long few months to see edge rusher Jonathan Greenard make his debut, and it finally happened in the 27-7 loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 3.
The Eagles traded for Greenard from the Minnesota Vikings during the 2026 NFL Draft. Philly traded two third-round picks to the Vikings and gave Greenard a four-year, $98 million contract extension.
A pectoral injury suffered while lifting weights before training camp cost Greenard all of training camp and the first two regular-season games. Now that he's finally played in the Midnight Green and White uniform, how did he look against the Bears?
Evaluating Jonathan Greenard's Eagles debut with a final grade
Greenard didn't get the start for the Eagles, as Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith Jr. earned the top edge rusher spots. This will most likely be the case for a bit, as defensive coordinator Vic Fangio hinted that Greenard needs more time to ramp up to full-time playing time.
The Eagles would only have Greenard on the field for 18 snaps, and 13 of them were pass-rushing plays. He finished the game with one tackle, one quarterback hit, and one forced fumble. His pass-rushing stats were three pressures and two hurries in the loss, according to NBC Philly's Ryan Fowler.
Jonathan Greenard in his Eagles debut (13 pass rush snaps):
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) September 29, 2026
• 2 hurries
• 1 QB hit
• 3 total pressures
• 1 tackle
Expecting more and more as the weeks progress.
Pro Football Focus gave Greenard an overall grade of 60.7, but he has not played enough snaps to be ranked. He had a pass-rush grade of 60.0 and a run-defense grade of 60.3.
Overall, it wasn't a bad debut for Greenard, but it took time to see the kind of impact he can make. Most of his quarterback pressures and QB hurries didn't really show until the second half.
At that time, the Bears lost left tackle Braxton Jones and had to replace him with Theo Benedet. The Eagles clearly had more success with their pass rush and pressure on Chicago quarterback Case Keenum when Benedet was on the field in pass-blocking situations. Greenard certainly took advantage and got in Keenum's face, but the veteran quarterback handled it well and didn't give up a sack to Greenard.
Expectations weren't high for Greenard early on because he had missed time and needed to get back into game speed. Under the circumstances, he showed signs of the Pro Bowler he was in Minnesota in 2024.
Read more: Jalen Hurts deserves very little blame for Eagles' debacle in Week 3
Philly will have to give him time to grow and build his snap count higher, since Fangio won't rush him. Greenard won't do anything spectacular in this game, but he has the potential to be great for this team.
Final Grade: B-
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