Eagles sign 5 to practice squad

The Eagles have signed five recently cut players to the practice squad:

WR Chad Hall
RB Martell Mallett
DT Jeff Owens
OL Dallas Reynolds
OL A.Q. Shipley

All of the players spent time in the Eagles training camp. The player with the most potential to see time on the team is probably Jeff Owens, who just missed making the team behind Antonio Dixon at defensive tackle. Chad Hall could also be called upon at some point should a receiver go down to injury. It's also nice to see the Eagles bring back Mallett after a strong showing in the preseason.

Teams are allowed to keep 8 players on their practice squad so the Eagles still have three more players to sign. My guess is that they will add Pannel Egboh, Cornelius Ingram and a safety cut from another team.

In other Eagles news, as expected, the team re-signed Max-Jean Gilles after he was temporarily cut yesterday.

Eagles cut 10, reduce roster to 65

The Eagles roster needs to be set at 53 by tomorrow but the Eagles made their first round of cuts today:

RB J.J Arrington
WR Dobson Collins
DE Pannell Egboh
TE Nate Lawrie
RB Martell Mallett
OT Jeraill McCuller
CB David Pender
CB Geoff Pope
DT Boo Robinson
S Anthony Scirrotto

The Eagles also placed DE Victor Abiamiri on the PUP list, meaning he will miss at least the first 6 weeks of the season.

There are no surprises amongst these cuts as none were considered serious contenders for a roster spot. The most recognizable name in the group is Arrington but he never got healthy enough to challenge for the third running back spot. The best of the bunch is likely Mallett, who, along with Egboh, figures to be a contender for a practice squad spot. The cutting of both Arrington and Mallett is good news for Eldra Buckley, who appears to have wrapped up a roster spot.

These moves leave the Eagles with 65 players on the roster. There will be 12 more cuts/moves by tomorrow to get them to 53.

The good and the bad from the Eagles first preseason game

Their first game of the new season is in the books and your Eagles are undefeated! Okay, so it's just a meaningless preseason game but the Eagles were quite impressive in their 28-27 win over the Jaguars. While the final score may make it seem like the two teams were evenly matched, if you watched the first quarter when all of the starters were in the game you saw a dominating performance by the Eagles. Here are some of the positives and negatives from the Eagles first preseason game.

Positives:

First team offense: The Eagles first team offense looked on point from the start, marching right down the field on their first two drives. Kevin Kolb looked sharp, hitting DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin for big plays and even showing his scrambling ability on a couple of nice runs. Sure, they had to settle for field goals, but you couldn't have asked for much better start for the offense this preseason.

Kevin Kolb: He was strong in his quarter of play, completing 6 of 11 passes for 95 yards. While it would have been nice for Kolb to get a TD pass, he showed good movement in the pocket and made all the right throws. He's got a ton of weapons surrounding him and Kolb looks like he's capable of finding the open man and letting the playmakers make plays.

First team defense: The Jaguars first team offense couldn't get anything going, failing to even get a first down against the Eagles first team defense. They weren't out there long, but the first team D had a ton of energy and put plenty of pressure on the quarterback and didn't allow the Jaguars to let a play develop downfield. While I would have liked to see the defense out there for longer, you can't complain about how efficient they were in shutting down the Jaguars.

Riley Cooper: Cooper made an immediate impact in the second quarter, making a nice catch on a long pass from Michael Vick for 46 yards. Given that he also spent some time with the first team offense on a three receiver set, Cooper, who finished with 3 catches for 61 yards, appears to be a lock to make the team.

Brandon Graham: No, he didn't have any sacks but he did put plenty of pressure on the quarterback and had some run with the first team on third downs. A positive first step for Graham, who looks like he has the pass-rushing ability to make an impact this season.

David Akers: You can't argue with 5 for 5 on field goals. The guy has still got it.

Michael Vick: Because of his turnovers, I debated for a while about putting Vick in the negative column but I saw enough explosiveness out of him to keep him in the positives. Sure, Vick did try to do too much, but he kept the offense moving, completing 11 of 17 passes and rushing for 50 yards. The bottom line with Vick is that he looks more like his old self and is going to be a bigger weapon for the Eagles on gimmick plays than he was last year.

Martell Mallett: Due to Mike Bell and J.J. Arrington's injuries, Mallett got a ton of work in the second half and finished with 60 yards rushing, a touchdown and 18 yard receiving. The former CFL star certainly made a strong showing but he's still a longshot to make the team.

Keenan Clayton: Clayton was all over the field in the second half, making 4 tackles and picking up a sack. With a motor like that he will make it impossible for the coaches to keep him off the team.

Negatives:

Quintin Demps injured: He left the game with a knee injury in the first quarter. Let's hope it's nothing serious because the Eagles don't have a whole lot of depth at safety.

Second team secondary: In the second quarter, the Jaguars burned the Eagles second team secondary repeatedly, allowing Josh McCown to thrown the ball all over the field. Joselio Hanson, Dimitri Patterson, Kurt Coleman and Trevard Lindley have a ways to go if they want to get significant playing time this season.

Joselio Hanson: Hanson got torched in the second quarter on a 73 yard touchdown pass from Luke McCown to Troy Williamson. Not only did Williamson blow by him but Hanson also committed a penalty on the play. Don't count on Hanson being anything more than a nickel corner.

Geoff Pope: Like Hanson, he got burned for a big play. Unlike Hanson, Pope isn't making the team.
(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Eagles bring back Tracy White

The Eagles clearly didn't like the depth they had at Training Camp. In yet another move today, the Eagles have brought back linebacker Tracy White. As we all remember from the last two seasons, White is a leader on special teams who also played some in nickel packages. White should be in the mix with rookie linebackers Keenan Clayton and Jamar Chaney for a roster spot. Given his special teams prowess and his team-first attitude, I wouldn't be surprised to see White suited up in Week 1.

To make room for White on the training camp roster, the Eagles have released running back Martell Mallett. Mallett, a star in the CFL last year, was signed back in January but was made expendable with the acquisition of J.J. Arrington. Given that Mallett's biggest strength was catching the ball out of the backfield, something Arrington has already proven he can do in the NFL, he had no shot of making the team.

Over the course of the last two days, the Eagles have traded out Joe Mays and Mallett and replaced them with White and Arrington, players that are better fits for their system. Neither addition is a huge move but they are both slight improvements to the depth at Training Camp.

Update: The Eagles have already brought Mallett back into camp and released fullback Dewayne Wright. Neither will make the team, anyway.

Eagles sign RB Martell Mallett, CFL star

The likelihood that Brian Westbrook has played his last game for the Eagles continues to increase. The Eagles, making a move to add more running back depth, signed Martell Mallett, the winner of CFL's 2009 Most Outstanding Rookie award when he suited up for the BC Lions.

Mallett, who played for Arkansas-Pine Bluff in college, seems to be a perfect fit for the Eagles offense as he is a big receiving threat out of the backfield. While he has no NFL experience, he figures to compete with Eldra Buckley for the backup running back spot next year behind LeSean McCoy, assuming Westbrook either retires or is cut. There is no guarantee that Mallett even makes the team, but looking at his numbers in the CFL (1622 total yards, 8 TD's), he seems talented enough to at least be the third running back in the system.