Kenny Clark and a new-look Packers defense will be a good first test for the Eagles’ new-look line

A new offensive scheme that revealed next to nothing during the preseason faces off against a new defensive scheme that revealed next to nothing during the preseason.

What happens next? This isn’t some gotcha riddle. The answer is: Who knows? What we do know is that Green Bay — mainly defensive tackle Kenny Clark — will give this new-look Eagles interior offensive line a good first test Friday night in São Paulo, Brazil.

“He’s a guy that could have a huge impact on this game,” new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “We have awareness that they’ve invested a lot on that defense. They’ve done a tremendous job building the talent around that thing. It’s going to be a challenge for us.”

Clark ranked 18th last season in ESPN Analytics’ pass rush win rate rankings. The 6-foot-3, 314-pound tackle accumulated a career-best 7½ sacks and 16 quarterback hits while drawing a double team on 57% of his 810 defensive snaps.

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It’s hard to look in the past for answers about how this defense is going to challenge an Eagles offensive line that features a new center (Cam Jurgens) and a new right guard (Mekhi Becton). The Packers have a new defensive coordinator, Jeff Hafley, who has turned former coordinator Joe Barry’s 3-4 defense into a 4-3 defensive scheme. Hafley, who left his head coaching job at Boston College to join Matt LaFleur’s staff, is likely to dial up more blitzes than the Packers used in the past — even if his Boston College teams didn’t blitz a ton by college standards.

Green Bay was more effective at pressuring with four rushers than it was when sending blitzes last season. If Hafley’s defensive pattern at BC is instructive, and Eagles coach Nick Sirianni intimated that it is in some ways, expect the Packers to rely on trying to get home on early downs with their four rushers and to send more pressures on third down. That could test how ready the Eagles are to erase their blitz-pickup woes from 2023.

Expect Clark to apply plenty of pressure on Jurgens and Becton, who won the starting right guard job weeks ago — even if Sirianni still thinks he’s keeping state secrets by not divulging that information.

“They’re all penetrating rushers,” Becton said. “We’re not used to that. We’re used to two-gappers — we’ve been going against that all camp. It’s just trying to beat him to the spot. I’m trying to get to the same spot that he’s trying to get to. It’s just all about who gets to their spot first.”

Asked if it was difficult to prepare on film for an opponent that doesn’t have much truly instructive film to show, given the newness of Hafley’s unit, Jurgens brought the focus back to the Eagles.

“I think a lot of it is worrying about yourselves,” he said. “We’ve got a different scheme, they’ve got a different scheme. If you’re doing your own job well, then you should be all right.

“It’s a really good defense and I think a lot of it runs through that front seven. They’ve got some good linebackers, too.”

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A familiar face was in the locker room after practice Tuesday: Jack Driscoll.

Driscoll, an offensive lineman who was with the Eagles for his first four NFL seasons, spent the summer with the Miami Dolphins after signing a one-year deal. He was released last week after Miami claimed wide receiver Grant DuBose following cut-down day.

The Eagles announced Tuesday evening that Driscoll and wide receiver Kyle Philips had been signed to the team’s practice squad. With the Eagles’ practice squad entering Tuesday at the max allotment of 17 players, tight end Kevin Foelsch and safety Caden Sterns were released to make room for Driscoll and Philips. Driscoll, 27, has played in 54 games (17 starts) with the Eagles since 2020, when the team drafted him in the fourth round. Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Philips spent the past two years with the Tennessee Titans, where he also returned punts.

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Isaiah Rodgers has been waiting a long time for Friday night. He last played an NFL game on Dec. 26, 2022.

The Eagles’ opener will feel like a “full-circle” moment, Rodgers said. This time last year, the veteran cornerback had just signed with the team after being released by Indianapolis following a suspension for violating the league’s gambling policy.

Since returning to the field during the Eagles’ offseason program, Rodgers has looked like he hasn’t missed a step. After a steep drop-off in production last season, the Eagles revamped their secondary and had a healthy competition at cornerback — and Rodgers was right in the mix. Rookie Quinyon Mitchell likely played his way into an every-down role, but Rodgers and Kelee Ringo are next up when the Eagles are in nickel and dime packages.

Rodgers, who was a limited participant in practice Tuesday with a hand injury, said running out of the tunnel at Corinthians Arena is at the top of the list of things he’s looking forward to most in his return to the NFL.

“I’ve just been waiting on that moment,” he said. What will it feel like? “I don’t know, but I know it’s going to be a good feeling.”

The Eagles listed A.J. Brown and Landon Dickerson as limited participants in Tuesday’s practice so they could rest. Rodgers (hand) and Devin White (ankle) were also limited.