Eagles takeaways: Roster bubble linebackers show burst; Cooper DeJean’s rusty debut; Nolan Smith’s quiet day

Believe it or not, Saturday afternoon’s 26-3 blowout loss to the Minnesota Vikings provided Howie Roseman and the Eagles front office with a favorable scenario in which to evaluate a handful of the defensive players ahead of the roster cutdown deadline.

Thanks in part to a Tanner McKee sack-fumble turnover and a number of Eagles defensive penalties that prolonged drives, the Vikings offense was on the field for nearly 36 minutes compared to 24 for the Eagles. Defensive players vying for roles on the Eagles roster and practice squad — or potentially another NFL roster — had plenty of time to make their respective cases.

» READ MORE: Eagles 53-man roster projection: OL Brett Toth makes a strong case; will LB Oren Burks be cut?

Here’s what we learned about the Eagles in their final exhibition contest:

Given that the Eagles starters and most of their returning, second-string players did not suit up for the game, it was eyebrow-raising to see Nolan Smith, the second-year outside linebacker out of Georgia, dressed in warmups. Regardless of the intention behind the decision to have him play, Smith seemed enthusiastic (and a bit defensive) about the opportunity after the game.

“It’s just really, getting ready to go for the season,” Smith said. “Ain’t nothing wrong with playing a little football. I don’t know why people think it’s so bad, especially as a defensive player. The more I practice tackling, the more I do it live.”

Fair enough. Smith hardly saw the field last season, playing just 16% of the defensive snaps in 2023, so he stands to benefit from the live reps. Smith ultimately took 19 snaps on defense (29% of the total snaps) across three series in the first half against the Vikings, the fewest of the active players at his position.

I didn’t notice Smith, particularly as a pass rusher, while watching the game live. The re-watch confirmed my initial assessment. No, not every play provided an opportunity to rush the passer, as Smith contributed in the run game and occasionally dropped into coverage.

But on the plays that he was a pass rusher, Vikings quarterback Jaren Hall either got the ball out quickly, or Smith didn’t win off the edge. Sometimes the left tackle had help — on one play in the first series that was ultimately wiped out by a defensive penalty, Smith was chipped by a tight end before he came into contact with the tackle, buying Hall time to get the ball out.

Even when he was one-on-one with the tackle, Smith never hit the quarterback. He showed his speed and his motor on most of his rushes, but he didn’t have the moves to win off the edge and finish. He nearly got around the edge once on a play that resulted in an Oren Burks sack on his final series of the game in the second quarter. Otherwise, it was a quiet day.

“I feel like I did great,” Smith said. “I had some good rushes. The ball was coming out fast. It was one of them that I was real close, just a tick close. You can’t worry about that. You’ve got to always play the next play.”

» READ MORE: Three ups and three downs from Eagles-Vikings preseason game

Cooper DeJean returned to game action for the first time since Nov. 11, seeing as he missed the end of his season at Iowa due to a broken leg sustained in practice. DeJean had to knock off some rust and get adjusted to the speed of the NFL game, albeit a preseason one.

All of DeJean’s 47 defensive snaps (64%) came at nickel cornerback and were dispersed throughout the entire game. Unsurprisingly, he experienced plenty of ups and downs. The most glaring low point of his game came on the Vikings’ first possession when he incurred a blatant illegal-contact penalty that nullified a Tristin McCollum interception on a ball that Hall airmailed to the safety.

He was also in coverage on a pair of slot fades to receiver Lucky Jackson in the end zone that were near touchdowns. Miraculously for DeJean, on both occasions, Jackson caught the passes but failed to get both feet in bounds. On the first instance in the first quarter, DeJean never had his eyes on the ball despite maintaining good coverage. On the second pass that came at the end of the second quarter, Jackson had DeJean beat.

The slot cornerback was late pushing Jackson out of bounds, but the receiver did not drag his feet anyway and settled for the incompletion. There’s an “unlucky” Jackson joke in there somewhere, but really, he appeared to have poor technique.

Some of DeJean’s more impressive plays of the day came in the run game, an important aspect of a nickel cornerback’s job compared to that of an outside cornerback. He had an unblocked tackle for a loss on a blitz in the third quarter that made the rounds on social media. I was even more pleased with his execution earlier in the quarter on first-and-goal at the 2-yard line on a tackle to prevent running back DeWayne McBride from punching the ball into the end zone.

“It was all right,” DeJean said of his overall performance. “Still a lot of things to learn from. Gonna go back and watch the tape. A couple missed tackles that I remember. So I just got to be better. Got to stick on guys better as well.”

A handful of defensive players solidified their arguments to remain in the Eagles ecosystem following the roster cutdown Tuesday, either on the initial 53 or on the practice squad. That group includes a pair of depth inside linebackers in Burks and Ben VanSumeren.

» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Was Oren Burks’ impact vs. Vikings enough to make a roster case ahead of cutdown day?

Burks also made his preseason debut after sitting out for the majority of camp with a knee injury. Even though he hadn’t played in a game since the Super Bowl as a former member of the San Francisco 49ers, Burks stood out with his speed in every facet of the game. He took advantage of a bad blocking scheme for McBride in the third quarter, maneuvering through the blockers, shooting a gap, and tackling the running back for a gain of a yard.

Both Burks and VanSumeren were used on blitzes and picked up a sack apiece. VanSumeren was unblocked on his sack of quarterback Matt Corral while Burks had to do a little more work, beating running back Myles Gaskin with a swim move to get to Hall.

VanSumeren flashed his instincts in coverage on multiple occasions. He sniffed out a screen pass to McBride in the third quarter, but he was held by offensive lineman Matt Cindric while attempting to tackle the running back. The officials missed the call. Later in the drive, the 2023 undrafted free agent out of Michigan State delivered a well-timed hit on McBride, who was running a wheel route in the red zone. The pass fell incomplete.

Both players will have an uphill battle making the initial 53 given that Devin White, Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. are all currently on the depth chart ahead of them. Still, their performances on Sunday proved that they deserve roles with the team in some capacity.