The Eagles are kicking off their preseason. It means plenty for several players with something to prove.

After a 207-day hiatus, the Eagles return to action on Friday night. Well, a version of them will.

The team is set to open the preseason on the road against the Baltimore Ravens, the first of three exhibition games leading up to the regular season. Exactly who will see the field remains unknown. Coach Nick Sirianni played coy on Wednesday when asked whether the starters will play for any duration.

Regardless, all three preseason contests will provide opportunities for Eagles newcomers, rookies, and unestablished players to prove to the coaching staff and the front office that they’re deserving of roles on the initial 53-man roster. Here are some of the players worth keeping an eye on over the next three weeks as they seek to establish themselves as integral members of the team:

The backup quarterback job is Pickett’s to lose. The Eagles didn’t trade three draft picks to acquire the former Pittsburgh Steelers starter, bringing with him two years remaining on his contract that are fully guaranteed at $4.61 million total, to make him the third-string signal caller.

Still, Pickett has seldom wowed through 10 days of training camp practices, although it would be unfair to blame the second-team offense’s inefficiency exclusively on the quarterback. Wednesday’s practice was a microcosm of Pickett and his unit’s camp so far, riddled with the highs and lows of completions, incompletions, would-be sacks, scrambles, and dead plays.

A consistent, clean performance in the preseason could quell doubts about Pickett’s ability to hold down the backup role. He had excellent exhibition showings in 2023, going 13-for-15 for 199 passing yards and two touchdowns for a perfect 158.3 passer rating in three games. That said, Pickett had the benefit of playing with various members of the Steelers’ starting offense in those appearances, which is unlikely to be the case with the Eagles.

Pickett has yet to pop in camp. Similarly, McKee has been OK but not stellar. Could the latter push Pickett for the backup spot with an efficient performance in the preseason? That seems unlikely, seeing as McKee outperformed Marcus Mariota in the preseason last year — albeit in a bigger sample size — and still assumed the third-string role.

Kellen Moore, the new offensive coordinator, was quick to downplay any link between McKee’s performance in camp and the second-team offense reps he took on Monday. He said he liked to put young quarterbacks in different situations with different personnel as a learning experience. On Tuesday, McKee was back with the third team. At the very least, the preseason will offer McKee the chance to prove once again that the Eagles ought to carry a third quarterback on the initial roster.

The competition for the third wide receiver role will continue to play out in the preseason. That spot likely will be filled by committee, as Sirianni suggested on July 29.

“The pass game offense is still going to run through DeVonta [Smith], A.J. [Brown], Dallas [Goedert], and then who’s the committee of No. 3 receiver, who’s the second tight end, who’s the back that we’re trying to get the ball to start things off in the pass game?” the coach said.

Who is leading the way? In recent practices with Parris Campbell (groin) sidelined, rookie Johnny Wilson has taken a number of reps with the first-team offense alongside Brown and Smith. The 6-foot-6, 228-pound receiver, selected in the sixth round out of Florida State, poses a size advantage in virtually every matchup he has faced. He has taken advantage of those opportunities, nabbing a touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts with Kelee Ringo in coverage on Monday.

John Ross has seen some of his first-team snaps dip with Wilson emerging, but he’s still in the running for a depth receiver role. The 28-year-old speedster is expected to have an opportunity in the preseason to prove that he still can contribute to an offense after coming out of retirement this spring.

Meanwhile, Ainias Smith is still trying to prove he deserves a roster spot. The 5-9, 176-pound receiver selected in the fifth round out of Texas A&M has intermittently struggled with drops while taking most of his reps with the second- and third-team offenses. Perhaps he’s still getting acclimated after missing time in the spring with an injury.

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Ross and Smith have served as punt and kick returners in practice and likely will continue to get looks in those spots in the preseason.

Going into training camp, Tyler Steen appeared to be in pole position to win the starting job at right guard. Then, while the 2023 third-round pick out of Vanderbilt was sidelined with an ankle injury for four practices, Mekhi Becton took over in his spot with the starters.

Becton, the 6-7, 363-pound converted tackle who spent the last three seasons with the New York Jets, has yet to give up that role since Steen’s return. Wednesday marked the first practice in which Steen wasn’t considered a limited participant since coming back from his injury, and he still slotted in with the second-string offense during team drills while Becton lined up with the starters.

Sirianni dismissed the notion on Wednesday that Becton has emerged as the front-runner, saying that both players are “still battling” for the job. What better place to continue to conduct that battle than the preseason?

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With Saquon Barkley unlikely to see much — if any — action in the preseason, Shipley can expect to hear his number called. The fourth-round running back out of Clemson has earned snaps with the first- and second-team offenses throughout camp, particularly rising to the occasion in a more prominent role on July 29 when Barkley was out because of a personal matter.

Shipley has been somewhat inconsistent recently in pass protection and as a receiver, which is to be expected from any young player. Late in camp on Monday, Shipley failed to snare a pass from Pickett while backed up, leading to a Shon Stephens pick-six. On offense, the rookie running back will look to solidify a role behind Barkley and potentially ahead of Kenneth Gainwell throughout the preseason. On special teams, Shipley likely will have the chance to contribute as a kick returner.

Dean heads into the preseason seemingly behind Devin White and Zack Baun in the competition for the starting inside linebacker spots. White and Baun have earned the first chances at reps with the rest of the starting defense in team drills for most of camp. Vic Fangio, the Eagles’ new defensive coordinator, noted that Dean took “a step back a little bit” in the public practice at the Linc on Aug. 1, but he added that the third-year linebacker was “doing really good” overall. Can he trend back in the right direction in preseason action?

After an uneventful rookie season, Smith is poised to assume a more prominent role among the pass rushers in the absence of Haason Reddick. The second-year outside linebacker out of Georgia has been relatively quiet throughout camp, although he made a noteworthy play against the starting offense in the public practice when he beat Lane Johnson to flush Hurts from the pocket and force a throwaway. The exhibition games will offer Smith opportunities to prove that he’s capable of excelling with more snaps in his sophomore season.

At the start of camp, Ringo and Isaiah Rodgers mostly split reps as the starting outside cornerback opposite Darius Slay. Recently, Rodgers has handled the majority of those snaps, with Ringo primarily assuming one of the outside cornerback spots with the second-team defense. But the 2023 fourth-round pick out of Georgia still is getting looks with the top unit, and the competition isn’t finished, according to Fangio. A strong preseason showing could help him make his case, seeing as neither Ringo nor Rodgers has made many plays on the ball in camp.

The Eagles are officially back in action this Friday for their first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from M&T Bank Stadium.