Before their roster bubble bursts, some Eagles get a final preseason dance

It can be viewed as a cynical exercise, this last game of the preseason, in which the Eagles travel to North Jersey on Thursday for their annual late August encounter with the New York Jets.

Starters, and just about everyone projected to have a prominent role when the real games start next week, will spend the evening watching from the sideline. On the field will be the other half of the 90-man roster, in which maybe a handful of players are truly battling for one of 53 roster spots.

Everybody else is there, well, because the NFL still mandates four preseason games, and the lone cutdown isn’t until 4 p.m. Saturday. Teams tell players they are putting themselves on film for other teams if they don’t make this one. That’s true, but really, you’re performing against other guys who probably aren’t going to make rosters, more so than in any of the previous preseason games. So how valuable is Thursday’s tape?

There is a twist this year that might help the proceedings seem less futile for the visitors. The Jets’ general manager is Joe Douglas, who was the Eagles’ vice president of player personnel until he got a chance to run his own operation this spring. Douglas will be watching the Eagles’ cuts this weekend, many of whom figure to be players he brought into the organization.

“I’m sure that’s a factor,” running back-returner Boston Scott said. Scott came to the Eagles from the Saints’ practice squad last December. “Joe Douglas is watching, and everybody else is watching, too.”

Scott’s path to an Eagles roster spot might be blocked by the player he has idolized and sought guidance from, 36-year-old Darren Sproles. Scott is 5-foot-6, 203, Sproles 5-6, 190. If you have one, do you really need the other?

“How do you say no to that? I’ve thought about it myself. If I’m the GM and I look at the two, I’d go with the proven vet,” Scott said. “He’s been able to produce. He’s been able to do his thing.”

Nonetheless, Scott will take the field Thursday night looking to be “more definitive on punt returns, specifically. I think I’m OK as far as kick returns. I need to be definitive with my decision-making, being a little bit more aggressive. Without losing poise, obviously, being smart.”

Alex Singleton, the former Canadian Football League All-Star who is vying for a spot as an Eagles linebacker, said the circumstances don’t matter.

“You’re playing a football game. You’re putting tape out there. You put your best foot forward and show everyone what you’ve got,” said Singleton, 25, who has said he will return to the CFL rather than take a week-to-week practice squad role for the fourth time since he signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted rookie from Montana State in 2015. But Singleton would much rather “be an Eagle for the next 10 years.”

Singleton has become friends with T.J. Edwards, an undrafted rookie linebacker from Wisconsin. Singleton said he has enjoyed “the young guy, the never-been-cut-before attitude.”

“It’s different coming from college,” Singleton said. “You don’t have that experience yet. I’m like, ‘Oh, I’ve been cut seven times.’ Three times by Seattle.”

Singleton said the Seahawks and coach Pete Carroll waived him early in his first training camp then brought him back in time for preseason.

“The first time, a random guy cut me, someone I didn’t know. And then when I was cut after camp, Pete Carroll came up and said, ‘Hey, I really appreciate what you did. Your opportunities will be there.’ Luckily, they brought me in a few times that year for practice squad and stuff. It always works out the way it’s supposed to.”

Edwards said he sees Thursday’s finale as survival of the fittest.

“All guys who are fighting for their jobs, for their lives,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you’ve got to want it more than another guy does, and you know he wants it pretty bad. You’re really going to see whoever wants to stick this out, for sure.”

Edwards said he will feel good about the experience, whatever happens in the cuts.

“This past five, six weeks, it’s been awesome. It’s a blessing to be here, especially with a team like this, an organization like this,” he said. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Nate Herbig is an undrafted rookie from Stanford who came in as a guard but has spent the preseason playing center for the first time in his life. Herbig has played so much at center, it’s obvious that offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland likes him and sees him there long-term, either on the roster this year or on the practice squad.

Herbig sees Thursday as another chance to refine his approach to his new calling.

“I’m starting to get confident. I felt [in the Ravens game] my [blocking] calls and things were a lot more on point. I was going against some better competition, some guys that have played during the regular season, so, just trying to build on it, get better,” Herbig said.

“I never thought I’d be a center. I’ve played guard my whole life. I was just down for whatever if it’s going to help me make the team. I’ll be very ecstatic if that happens.”

The biggest struggle, Herbig said, is that “at guard you’re off the ball a little bit. [At center] the D-lineman’s right on your hands. It’s like different timing with everything. With guard, it almost feels like you have a lot more time, now that I’ve played center."

Alex Ellis is a 26-year-old former Titan, Jaguar, Saint, and Chief who was signed a week into camp. The tight end had a lovely touchdown catch against the Ravens, from Josh McCown. But has he made enough of an impression to stick?

“You come in late anywhere, it’s definitely an obstacle,” Ellis said. “I’m still learning the offense, the ins and outs of little things, getting technique back.

“Just go ball. That’s all you can do. It is what it is.”