Eagles-Vikings analysis: Birds standouts and roster bubble intrigue in the preseason finale

The next time the Eagles suit up for a game at Lincoln Financial Field, a Week 2 Monday Night Football matchup with the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 16, things will look and feel a lot different.

The defining visual characteristics of a preseason game — the lack of logos at midfield or in the end zones, the half-filled stadium — will be replaced by the sights and sounds of the real stuff.

The real players, too.

Another preseason game came and went without Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Co. suiting up. During Saturday’s 26-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, more than half of the expected 53-man roster didn’t play. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni pointed again to the joint practice the Eagles played in New England, as well as multiple intrasquad scrimmages when citing why the starting offense didn’t take any snaps in the preseason.

“I have to make the decision that I feel is best for our team and if I feel our team is ready, and I felt that,” Sirianni said. “I felt like we were getting a lot of good back and forth, hard practices out there for two hours ... so I felt like we got enough work to be ready to go, and I’m comfortable where we are leading into this week.”

The preseason is over, and the Eagles now turn their attention to figuring out that 53-man roster and preparing for their season-opening trip to Brazil. But even without the bulk of the mainstays, there were more than enough storylines and roster battles worthy of attention on Saturday. Here’s an instant analysis of what went down in the preseason finale.

It’s a good problem for any team when a top talking point during a training camp is whether the backup quarterback should be supplanted by the third-string quarterback.

But on Saturday, Kenny Pickett likely put that conversation — for now — to rest. A week after looking shaky against a group of mostly New England starters behind a second-team offensive line, Pickett looked much more composed and comfortable running the Eagles offense against more even competition.

Pickett played the entire first half and completed six of nine passes for 58 yards. The Eagles went run-heavy for much of the half, but Pickett looked much better throwing the ball past the first-down marker, most notably during a hookup with wide receiver Parris Campbell for 19 yards, Pickett’s longest completion of the afternoon. He did still rely mostly on the short passing game.

“I think it was good,” Pickett said when assessing his performance. “I wish we protected the ball a little bit better to sustain those drives. I thought they did a good job of possessing the ball for a really long time. I feel like we didn’t have as many opportunities as you usually would in a game, a first half like that.”

Tanner McKee, playing behind a similar line Pickett took snaps behind last week, relieved Pickett to start the second half. He was sacked and fumbled the ball away to Minnesota on his first snap.

The Eagles, trailing by 20 when McKee took over, threw the ball much more often in the second half. McKee went 13-for-21 for 115 yards. He twice drove the Eagles deep into Minnesota territory, but one drive ended with a turnover on downs, and the other ended with an interception, though that wasn’t McKee’s fault. The ball hit receiver Joseph Ngata in the hands and bounced into the hands of a Vikings defender.

Will Grier relieved McKee with six minutes remaining in the game.

Rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean made his Eagles debut Saturday. The second-round pick returned to the practice field last week in New England after missing most of camp with a hamstring injury.

DeJean said earlier this week that he was looking forward to getting back on the field to hit someone, Saturday being his first game since playing for Iowa in November.

DeJean took all of his defensive snaps in the nickel spot. During the Eagles’ first defensive drive, DeJean negated an interception with an illegal-contact penalty.

He was later a step slow on a pair of end-zone throws to Vikings receiver Trishton Jackson, but neither resulted in a touchdown. DeJean was credited for a pair of tackles, including one where he quickly diagnosed a run play and got by a blocker. He later fielded two punts in the second half.

“It was all right,” DeJean said when asked about his performance. “There’s still a lot of things to learn from … a couple [of] missed tackles, if I remember. I just got to be better, got to stick on guys better as well.

“I feel like I executed the call and knew what I was doing out there. Just got to be in a better position sometimes on a few of those plays. But it was good to get back out there, and it’ll be a good learning experience once I watch this tape.”

While most of the expected contributors on defense got the day off, edge rusher Nolan Smith dressed and played plenty.

Smith, a first-round pick a year ago, has not had the best camp and did little to flash Saturday against Minnesota’s backups. He’s not in danger of being cut, but Saturday could have been the Eagles sending a message to Smith that he didn’t deserve the day off and needed to get some more work in.

Smith initially said after the game that he likes playing and that defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Jeremiah Washburn decided he would play Saturday, but when asked later if he requested to play, he said: “I wouldn’t say that, but when it’s time for 3 to go spin, I ain’t going to have no second doubt in my nature. I’m gonna be ready to spin.”

Preseason finales are about figuring out the final roster spots, so Saturday was critical for some Eagles on the bubble.

Here’s a look at some of them:

The Eagles have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to finalize their roster, so general manager Howie Roseman and his staff, plus Sirianni and the coaching staff will be busy over the next 48 hours.

After that, the Eagles have 10 days to prepare for their Sept. 6 season-opening game in São Paulo, Brazil, vs. Green Bay.

Let the real football begin.