Can the Eagles’ old men — Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, et al. — rebound by tonight?

To begin with, Thursday Night Football after Sunday evening football is an abomination for all players. For thirtysomethings, short-week TNF can be a nightmare.

Jason Kelce will be 36 in November. Brandon Graham turned 35 in April. Lane Johnson turned 33 in May. Fletcher Cox will be 33 in December.

They all already are legendary Eagles. Most will one day get Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration. But all are high-mileage veterans, and 2023 is the winter of their careers.

The same is true of cornerbacks Darius Slay, 32, and James Bradberry, 30. They might be a bit younger, but corners typically have a shorter shelf life than linemen, and while linemen usually slide of out the NFL, corners fall off a cliff.

There will be several moments this season when they’ll be at risk of showing their age: the opener last Sunday; Thursday night against the visiting Vikings; and three Sunday dates after Monday night games: Oct. 1 against the Commanders, Nov. 26 against the Bills, and Dec. 31 against the Cardinals. That’s five of 17 games, nearly 30% of the schedule, in which the graybeards could falter.

They did not falter Sunday.

They were protected in the preseason, so the first test of their fitness came in the opener. None showed remarkable signs of their usage Sunday.

Cox, who is questionable for Thursday with a rib injury, logged a 72.4 score for his overall play at defensive tackle at New England in the season opener, according to Pro Football Focus’ system. It was his fourth-best score since the beginning of last season, a span of 21 games. Kelce was at 72.1, mediocre for him — he averaged 89.4 last season — but still elite among centers. Johnson is still the best right tackle in football, but he delivered his worst performance since the 2020 season opener, at 58.4. Then again, Johnson usually delivers a stinker or two every season, and he often faced pass rusher Matthew Judon and the blitz looks that follow Judon in the Patriots’ defensive schemes. Like Kelce, Graham’s 78.6 score is modest for him but very good among edge rushers.

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Slay got a 70.9 despite returning an interception for a touchdown — it was a coincidental interception but a thrilling runback. It was not great, especially for him, but is close to his 2022 overall score, when he went to his fifth Pro Bowl. Bradberry finished at 63.9 before leaving with a concussion that will cost him Thursday night’s game.

PFF’s grading system remains imperfect, but both the graders and the system have markedly evolved every year since Cris Collinsworth bought a majority share in 2014.

At any rate, if the Birds get similar scores from the thirtysomethings who will play Thursday night, they should be elated. This was not much of a problem last season.

The Eagles last season played the Texans in Game 8. Only Cox registered a significantly poor performance: a 40.0, his worst grade since the 2019 season finale. Bradberry also struggled, at 54.4, his second-worst game of the regular season. Little was made of this moment for Cox and Bradberry, partly because the Eagles moved to 8-0, and partly because, on the same night, the Phillies played the Houston Astros in Game 5 of the World Series.

At any rate, the other four oldsters were fine.

They also were a year younger than they are now. They also played the Texans, a team that had one win at the time and, arguably, the worst team in the NFL in 2022.

That won’t be true Thursday night. Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson lead a dynamic offense that can be potent when the line protects Cousins — a concern for the Vikings considering that their starting center and both tackles are hurt.

The Vikings defense, second worst in the NFL in 2022, remains suspect despite the addition of coordinator Brian Flores, but the Eagles offense was astoundingly inefficient in Foxborough.

The Eagles’ biggest question: After playing 50 snaps for just the fifth time since the beginning of last season, could Cox be effective on a short week? If he plays, will the rib injury that limited him at practice Monday and Tuesday diminish him Thursday night? Will his youthful sidekicks — starters Milton Williams and Jordan Davis and rookie Jalen Carter, who played great Sunday — be as effective with a lesser mainstay to anchor the line?

Similarly, will Slay be fresh enough to cover Jefferson, the league’s best receiver? Slay limited Jefferson to one catch on five targets in their Game 2 faceoff last season, and Slay intercepted Cousins twice when he targeted Jefferson.

Jefferson vowed revenge:

“Definitely, we have some things we’ve got to get back [at] them on,” he told reporters Tuesday. “There’s definitely some tension going into the game.”

Will Kelce hold up? Probably. After all, he weirdly loves TNF. Will Johnson rebound? Probably. He’s fluky. There’s less concern for Graham, who played just 21 defensive snaps.

Then again, 21 snaps at 35 years of age probably feels more like 50, and probably like 70 on a super-short week.

Of course, having grown men of any age play an NFL football game just four days after their last NFL football game indicates utter disregard for players’ well-being. It’s even worse than a 17th regular-season game ... not quite as evil as making them play on artificial turf.

The Eagles play the Minnesota Vikings in the home opener. Join Eagles beat reporters Josh Tolentino, EJ Smith, and Olivia Reiner as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.