Preseason Game Review – PHI 34, CIN 27

I went back and re-watched the Eagles win over the Bengals to get a better feel for how the players did. I’m going to focus on the second-stringers and key backups. I didn’t have time to watch all of the third stringers.

QB  – Tanner McKee had a great showing. He made good reads and accurate throws. He ran for a TD on the Tush Push. He moved around on some passes where he got pressure. McKee showed the ability to throw on the run. He looked like a starting QB. Keep in mind that McKee was leading the #2 offense against a lot of Cincy starters. They were a terrible defense a year ago, but that is still impressive.

DTR played the third quarter. He showed a better arm than I expected. He only ran once. I thought his legs would be used more, but I’m guessing he wants to show the coaches what he can do from the pocket. DTR was a little hurried at times, but there are going to be nerves in your first game with a new team. He made a wow throw when he hit Taylor Morin over the middle for 24 yards. That was a tight window. The throw was accurate and had good velocity. He also hit a TE on a rollout that went for a good gain. That throw had good touch.

Rookie Kyle McCord was disappointing. He didn’t get good blocking and his receivers didn’t help him out, but McCord didn’t look comfortable. He was nervous and played too fast. Hopefully he’ll settle down next week and we can get a better feel for his actual ability.

RB – Will Shipley went 7-48, which sounds impressive. Then you find out he got 38 yards on this play.

mamma mia pic.twitter.com/ns8AX53JQi

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) August 8, 2025

Shipley’s other 6 carries netted 10 yards. You can make the case that he was the least impressive Eagles RB on Thursday night. I have concerns about him being the primary backup to Saquon.

AJ Dillon was 5-27 on the ground. One big difference between Dillon and Shipley is that Dillon showed the ability to get the most out of what was available. He pushed the pile forward on a couple of runs. He is a good runner in traffic. Dillon looked terrific as a receiver. He showed good hands and finished 3-27.

Keilan Robinson looked quick and fast. He had a 14-yard run that was impressive. Shun’Derrick Powell was 6-32 and had an impressive 19-yard run. He was very quick and had a good burst. Powell is small, but he can make guys miss.

WR – Jahan Dotson didn’t play long, He went 2-27 and looked good. Dotson has been coming on in camp recently so he is definitely trending in the right direction. Johnny Wilson has had a quiet camp, but came alive in the game, going 3-73. Two of them were contested catches where he made impressive plays on the ball. He really used his size well. He did drop one pass, but it wasn’t an ideal throw.

Darius Cooper had a great game. If cuts were today, he would be part of the 53-man roster. Cooper was 6-82-1. The numbers are good, but how he got them is so much more important. Cooper had terrific releases on multiple plays. He’s got quick feet and has a feel for how to create separation. He ran good routes. Cooper has strong, sure hands. He plucks the ball naturally. He looked like a veteran receiver, not a UDFA from a tiny school.

Ainias Smith went 2-11 and had a short TD. He looked fine. Taylor Morin was 2-30 and showed something.

TE – Kylen Granson has taken the lead for #3 TE. He finished 3-28 and looked good at catching the ball. He ran good routes. Granson did a good job on a rub route that got Smith wide open for his TD. Granson showed solid effort as a blocker. I was disappointed with Harrison Bryant’s blocking. He is the bigger of the two guys, but was sloppy and ineffective when I watched him. EJ Jenkins finished 2-20 and is keeping his hopes of a roster spot alive.

OL – Kendall Lamm was the LT. He looked like a veteran backup. He was solid, but nothing special. Brett Toth was the LG. He is a functional OG. He just can’t snap. Rookie Drew Kendall played center. I liked what I saw from him. He snapped the ball well. No issues that I saw. He was quick from snap to block. Kendall has good feet. He’s smart and plays with good awareness. He’s also a tough, physical blocker. He sure looks like the backup center. Tyler Steen was the RG for a series. He looked good and will be the starting RG when the season opens. Matt Pryor was the RT. He has limitations, but is a smart, veteran blocker. He really knows how to use his size. He will ride rushers wide if they start to beat him. He will wall off DL with his body in the run game.

Darrian Kinnard replaced Steen at RG. i was impressed with Kinnard. When he bends his knees and plays with good pad level, he is good in pass pro. He showed the ability to move and block on the move. He was good vs stunts. Kinnard is more comfortable at RT, but I thought he looked good at RG. I think he will make the team.

Myles Hinton played a lot at LT. Not great. Hinton had a bad game. He got pushed around too much in pass pro. He was sloppy with his hands and had at least one holding call on a run play. He gave up a sack. He looked confused on who to block a couple of times. He’s not the first player to have a bad debut. There were some plays where he impressed. He got good movement in the run game on a couple of blocks. His natural size and strength is something Jeff Stoutland likes and wants to work with. Hinton is a project.

Kenyon Green played a bit at RG. He stunk and then got hurt. That’s not good for a guy with his experience and coming off a bad year. Trevor Keegan played some RG and was disappointing. Too sloppy and got beaten on too many plays. Rookie Cameron Williams played RT. He was called for holding and looked raw, but also had some impressive snaps. He has good physical tools. He’s another project.

Be patient with the young linemen. They can take some time. These guys weren’t high picks. They have a lot to work on.

ED – I was disappointed while watching the game live. I felt a bit better on the re-watch. Cincy used 6 and 7 blockers on several pass plays. They were not going to let Joe Burrow get hit. It seemed like protection was a huge focus for them even though this was a preseason game.

Josh Uche had some good moments. It felt like he is adapting to the way Vic Fangio wants his guys to rush. There weren’t a lot of fancy moves. He was credited with 2 tackles. Ojulari didn’t catch my eye much at all. Patrick Johnson had a sack (taken back by a penalty) and an INT. He also got pressure on some other plays. He helped himself.

DL – Gabe Hall was the best DT in the game. I was very impressed by his progress since last summer. Hall is stronger and played with more confidence. He looked athletic. He was able to win with quickness and strength. He had 3 tackles and was disruptive. Rookie Ty Robinson had a solid showing. There were a couple of plays when he won very quickly. He has excellent athleticism. When he’s good with his hands, Robinson is tough to block. I thought he also did a good job in playing the run. He was able to engage blockers and stand them up as he looked for the ball. Robinson had a sack. These guys played a lot.

Jacob Sykes looked good on the move. Joe Evans was good as a NT, 2-gapper type. Both had good moments in the game.

LB – Smael Mondon and Jeremiah Trotter Jr were the starters. Mondon struggled early on. He missed multiple tackles and struggled to get off blocks. Mondon was better in the second half. He got off blocks and got to the ball. He tackled better. He finished with 4 tackles. Trotter led the team with 6 tackles. He had a QB hurry and almost had an INT. He was active and worked hard to get to the ball. I thought he played smart. Solid showing.

Jihad Campbell’s snaps were limited by the training staff. He still played enough to make a good impression. He was in on 3 tackles and was physical. He got called for hands to the face. Campbell had a chance for an INT, but couldn’t secure the ball. Promising start.

SAF – Sydney Brown started and played pretty well. He was as aggressive as ever as a hitter/tackler. He had 3 tackles. On the last one, he took a helmet to the shoulder and had to leave the game. He seemed to be fine afterward, but that was a concerning moment. Brown has got to be able to stay on the field. I thought he was solid in coverage.

Andre Sam played well on defense and STs. He had 2 tackles on both groups. Sam played fast and really attacked the ball when it was in front of him. Tristin McCollum didn’t stand out to me, good or bad. UDFA Maxen Hook played late and had 3 tackles. I was encouraged by what we saw from him. I hope he plays more next week.

CB – Kelee Ringo struggled for the most part. He is generally a good tackler, but missed twice in the game. One was on a quick screen. Brown played it well and blew up the play. Ringo had an easy path to the ball, but didn’t make the stop. The other missed tackle came on a blitz. Chase caught the ball out wide. When Ringo missed, Chase turned that into a long TD. I thought Ringo did some good things in coverage, but he’s got to be able to finish plays.

I was actually more concerned with Adoree Jackson. He didn’t give up any big plays, but I thought he looked a bit slow. When a receiver got some separation, Jackson didn’t have the recovery speed to get back in position. It wasn’t a good night for either guy. As Fangio pointed out, Ringo can learn from his mistakes. Next week will be huge for him, both the joint practices and the game.

I need to watch more of Mac McWilliams. Eli Ricks was called for PI and dropped a pick six. Not his best night. Brandon Johnson played in the slot and had some good moments. The most impressive of the backup CBs was Tariq Castro-Fields. I thought he covered well and tackled well. I hope he gets more reps next game.

That’s it for now.

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