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Two weeks into the Philadelphia Eagles season and the narratives are already out.
There are legitimate reasons to complain about a 2-0 start, and there are concerns regarding this team. Some good things have come from the 2-0 start as well.
All part of the NFL week. There are takeaways, overreactions, and evaluations. We'll take a look at the biggest overreactions now that we've had some time to digest what's being seen on the field.
Let's break down some of the biggest talking points following two weeks of play as Week 3 approaches.
Jihaad Campbell should be benched for Jeremiah Trotter Jr.
There's a narraive out there that Campbell should be benched for Trotter Jr, based on how Campbell has played the first two games. Campbell has been fine in his first two starts as the full-time off-ball linebacker, but a liability in coverage.
Campbell has allowed a 118.8 passer rating as the primary defender in coverage through two games, and the beats in coverage stand out on film. He's still a more athletic linebacker than Trotter, and a first-round pick Vic Fangio wants to play.
Trotter Jr. is a good linebacker who will start somewhere down the line, but the Eagles aren't giving up on Campbell after two games. It's just not happening, and won't happen this year either.
This isn't a Makai Lemon situation.
Marcus Epps is on a short leash at safety
Epps struggled in Week 2, having three missed tackles and was a liability at safety. For a player who was in a training camp battle all summer for the starting safety job, that's not good.
Vic Fangio admitted there's a chance Michael Carter gets more snaps going forward, and the Eagles sigend Kenny Moore this week. Cooper DeJean isn't moving to safety, but the wheels are in motion to try something else at safety.
Epps is playing for his job, and an okay performance in Week 3 may not be enough.
Cam Jurgens should be replaced by Willie Lampkin
For as poor as Jurgens looked in his firts game at left guard, he never played a game there in his life. This is why the decision to play Jurgens at a new position and take him off center had a lot of question marks.
Jurgens should get better as he gets acclimated to left guard. The Eagles aren't switching him and Drew Kendall again, so this is going to be the offensive line combination.
Lampkin is still developing, and asking him to save the offensive line is premature and too much presure for a player who has never played an NFL game. An opportunity would come for Lampkin via injury, not for performance.
Darius Cooper needs to play over Makai Lemon
The seeds are already planted for that opportunity, as Cooper is the third-best receiver on this team. Cooper played more in the second half in Week 2 and caught the game-winning touchdown pass. He's a receiverJalen Hurts trusts and can play the slot and the outside.
Lemon is a first-round pick and the Eagles traded up to get him, but expecting Lemon to be an instant contributor after the summer he had is asking too much. The Eagles need to play their best players with the injuries to Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert -- and that's not Lemon right now.
The Eagles need to get Lemon's confidence up. What they're doing right now isn't helping him.
Will Shipley should see more snaps over Tank Bigsby
Pending on the Saquon Barkley injury, the Eagles could be better off giving Shipley more snaps in a running back-by-committee approach with Bigsby. Shipley should see more snaps in the passing game as an extra weapon in the offense, but should be get more carries?
Bigsby struggled on Sunday, but that is more on the offensive line than him. He averaged 0.5 yards before contact per carry, which isn't on him. That also hurt Bigsby with gap recognization and hitting the hole.
The Eagles have seen Bigsby succeed with 10+ carries, even with the offensive line being subpar. He's ahead of Shipley on the depth chart for a reason.
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