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  • Eagles vs. Commanders: Predictions, injuries, odds, playoff scenarios, and what everyone is talking about

    Eagles vs. Commanders: Predictions, injuries, odds, playoff scenarios, and what everyone is talking about

    The Eagles will host the Washington Commanders on Sunday evening as they wrap up the regular season and prepare for their Super Bowl defense.

    Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the game …

    How to watch

    The game will kick off on CBS from Lincoln Financial Field at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday. Kevin Harlan and Ross Tucker will call the game from the booth. Meanwhile, Penn State alumna Melanie Collins will report from the sideline.

    If you’re on the move and want to listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick call the game, then you can tune into 94.1 WIP. And if you’re planning an outing with friends, here are some of the best places to watch an Eagles game in Philly.

    A familiar voice to Birds fans will call Eagles-Commanders on CBS

    Final Week 18 injury report

    The Eagles will be resting most of the starters heading into Sunday’s game. In terms of the injury report, several Eagles did not practice Friday, including Jalen Carter (hip), Nakobe Dean (hamstring), Marcus Epps (concussion), Dallas Goedert (knee), Lane Johnson (foot), and Jaelan Phillips (ankle). None of those players will play Sunday.

    Jihaad Campbell was a full participant despite back and shoulder ailments.

    Meanwhile, the Commanders issued a lengthy injury report on Friday.

    Eagles vs. Commanders odds

    Earlier in the week, the Eagles were 6.5-point favorites at FanDuel, and 7-point favorites at DraftKings. Once it was announced that the Eagles were planning on resting their starters, the odds changed. Now, the Eagles are heading into Sunday’s game as 3.5-point favorites at FanDuel and 4.5-point favorites at DraftKings.

    The total is set at 39.5 and 38.5 points at FanDuel and DraftKings, respectively. For more betting props, check out our betting guide here.

    Eagles playoff picture

    The Eagles have already clinched the division with a Week 16 win over the Commanders. Now, with a win on Sunday and a Chicago Bears loss to the Detroit Lions, the Eagles will be the No. 2 seed in the NFC. However, if Philly loses or Chicago wins, the Eagles will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed.

    Storylines to watch

    Can the Eagles get it done with most of their starters resting this week?

    They’ll be competing against a banged up Washington Commanders team that will be relying on third-string quarterback Josh Johnson. With a win on Sunday, the Birds still have a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC if the Bears lose to the Lions.

    The Eagles have managed to take care of business the last three weeks. Can they do it again to close out the regular season?

    More storylines to watch:

    One number to know

    2: The Eagles could potentially claim the No. 2 seed with a win on Sunday.

    Our Eagles vs. Commanders predictions

    Here’s how our beat writers are predicting Sunday’s game:

    Jeff Neiburg: Games like this are really hard to predict. Who plays? And for how long? But the Eagles have the advantage at quarterback, and they’re the team with more football to play beyond Week 18. I’ll take that combination in this one. Will there actually be a quarterback controversy? McKee will probably play well enough that the sports radio callers will engage in the absurdity. Happy New Year. Prediction: Eagles 27, Commanders 16

    Olivia Reiner: The Commanders aren’t exactly operating at full strength. Center Tyler Biadasz went on injured reserve this week and left tackle Laremy Tunsil isn’t expected to play, either. While the Eagles will be motivated to win, the banged-up Commanders have more experience playing together this season. Plus, they may still have a bad taste in their mouths given the scrum that occurred late in the Week 16 game at Northwest Stadium. Prediction: Commanders 21, Eagles 17

    Eagles vs. Commanders predictions: Our writers pick a winner for Week 18

    National media predictions

    Here’s how the national media is predicting Sunday’s game:

    What we’re saying about the Eagles

    Here’s a look at the latest from our columnists, starting with Mike Sielski, who broke down the Eagles’ passive offense.

    Sielski: “If you’re complaining about the Eagles’ impotent offense and unimaginative play-calling both from Sunday’s second half and from several previous games this season, if you’re waiting for Sirianni and coordinator Kevin Patullo to have some eureka moment and suddenly start dazzling everyone with their play designs and a wide-open style of offense, you’re missing the key to understanding the 2025 Eagles.

    “They want to play like this. They want to rely on their defense. They want to limit every and any available possibility that their offense and special teams might commit a turnover. It took some time and some trial and some error, but they’ve settled on an approach, and this is it.”

    Marcus Hayes: “A win is a win is a win, but, really, is it too much to expect a greater degree of consistency and professionalism from the reigning Super Bowl champions? Is it ungrateful to believe a 10-5 team should look more like a 10-win team than five-loss team? Maybe. But, hey, we are Philadelphia.”

    What the Commanders are saying about the Eagles

    The Commanders have a banged up team heading into Sunday’s game as they expect to start Johnson at quarterback. Although the Birds plan on sitting most of their starters, including Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn is treating Sunday’s game like any other. When asked if the Birds’ decision to rest their starters changed anything, Quinn responded: “Not for us.”

    “By no means are we at full strength, nor are most teams in the NFL during Week 18,” Quinn told reporters. “But, what I do love is the number of guys that are really hungry for this opportunity and chance to compete together. We had so many players miss time, they want to chance to express themselves and to prove it. So, when you miss games and stretches of games, you’re hungry for that competition and you’re hungry for that space. In our league, we practice way more than we play. So, they want to be able to go play and I love that about our guys. We had a hard battle with them two weeks ago and I expect another hard battle Sunday.”

    Here’s more from what they’re saying…

    Commanders prepare for ‘the lion’s den’ at the Linc for a Week 18 matchup vs. the Eagles

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    Quarterback Josh Johnson: “It’s awesome,” Johnson told reporters. “We get to go into the lion’s den. I love it. I wouldn’t change it. It’s great to be able to have a game of this caliber versus this type of team to finish the season. So, I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. Football is going to have to be played at the highest level. In order to beat this team, we got to play at a very high level and I’m looking forward to us going out there and playing at a high level.”

    Center Nick Allegretti: “There’s a million ways to look at this game,” Allegretti told reporters. “Obviously, this is the last game of the season for us. But, everyone in this locker room in their life has dreamed of being in this situation. If you told me when I was 10 that I would get a chance to play in a Week 18 game, I think it would be the coolest thing in the world. So, understanding that. We get a chance to play against another NFL team. Go try to win that game. Who cares about what happened the week before or the week after.”

    What else we’re reading (and watching)

    🏈 Jason Kelce ‘feels good about Round 1,’ and more from ‘New Heights’

    🤜🤛 Cooper DeJean’s bromance with Reed Blankenship, preparing for Josh Allen, and more ‘Hard Knocks’ highlights.

    📖 Three reassuring Eagles stats, and three reasons to worry ahead of the NFL playoffs

  • The advantage to the Eagles’ resting their starters, Bryce Harper’s inspiration, and other thoughts

    The advantage to the Eagles’ resting their starters, Bryce Harper’s inspiration, and other thoughts

    First and final thoughts …

    The stakes for the Eagles on Sunday are clear: If they beat the Washington Commanders and if the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, then the Eagles would secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.

    It would likely make for an easier road back to the Super Bowl (easier on paper, anyway), because they’d be assured of having home-field advantage in at least the wild-card and divisional rounds, and the matchups they’d face in those games might be more favorable.

    So the Eagles had a choice: They could play their starters against the Commanders, giving their most important players no rest ahead of the postseason, with no guarantee that, even if they beat Washington, that they’d end up with the second seed anyway.

    Or they could sit their starters, banking that a well-rested team would be better off no matter who or where it plays. Nick Sirianni and his staff, as we now know, opted to rest the starters.

    It was the right decision, for this reason: Given that Washington is 4-12 and will have third-stringer Josh Johnson at quarterback Sunday, there’s a decent chance that the Eagles will secure the best of all outcomes for themselves.

    They can give their starters a week off, still win the game, and have the Bears lose to the Lions. After a regular season that raised some questions about the Eagles’ ability to repeat, that scenario would be a timely reassertion of strength from the defending champs.

    Too hot for pucks

    The entire premise and most of the appeal of the NHL’s Winter Classic, when it began in 2008, were based around the notion that hockey in its best and purest form was a cold-weather sport.

    A pond or stream or lake froze over. Kids bundled up, grabbed their skates and sticks and a couple of rickety little goal nets, and just played. The sport was a natural and seamless part of life in Canada and in certain regions of the United States.

    But not in Miami. Which is where this year’s Winter Classic, between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers, was held Friday. How do you know a gimmick has gotten stale? When you’re playing an outdoor hockey game in early January in a place where it’s 70 degrees in the shade.

    Quarterback Fernando Mendoza (right) and Indiana routed Alabama on the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

    Hoosier daddy?

    The benefit of the 12-team College Football Playoff is that it is a great revealer. Most of the sport’s regular season is marred by “expert analysis” that is based on little more than arrogance and presumptuousness: The SEC is obviously a better and more challenging league than the Big Ten, which is better and more challenging than the Big 12, which is way ahead of the ACC, and so on. It’s regional bias and figure-skating-style judging all the way down.

    Then they actually play the games. And we learn that Alabama has no business being on the same field as Indiana, that Texas Tech is a long way from the days of Kliff Kingsbury and Patrick Mahomes, that Ohio State’s lopsided intraconference victories aren’t a true indication of how good the Buckeyes really are.

    Dave Dombrowski apparently provided Bryce Harper with some extra motivation this offseason.

    An elite idea

    Bryce Harper recently posted a video of himself taking batting-cage swings while wearing a T-shirt with “NOT ELITE” across the front, a reference to Phillies president Dave Dombrowski’s description of Harper’s 2025 season.

    You’ve got to love that defiant, near-vindictive energy from Harper, and it was a brilliant idea to take Dombrowski’s words and strip them across a shirt. Imagine an entire apparel line, marketed to individual athletes, made up of critical yet potentially inspiring phrases. The possibilities are endless.

    Jalen Hurts: CAN’T PASS

    A.J. Brown: READS BOOKS

    Joel Embiid: GAME-TIME DECISION

    Aaron Nola: TWO-STRIKE BOMBS

    Alec Bohm: TEMPER TANTRUM

    Ben Simmons: GONE FISHIN’

    Carson Wentz: INTENTIONAL GROUNDING

    LeBron James: U R NO MJ

    From the Eagles’ Super Bowl win to the Phillies’ bitter end, let’s look back at 2025 in Philly sports

    VJ’s biggest jump

    In his 33 games during his only year of college basketball at Baylor, VJ Edgecombe took 4.6 three-pointers a game and made 34% of them. In his 28 games so far with the 76ers, he is taking 5.8 a game and making 38% of them. That improvement might be the most pleasant surprise of his terrific rookie season.

    One last one-liner

    Congratulations to former Eagles great Frank Gore for being a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist.

  • Jeff McLane’s keys to Eagles vs. Commanders in Week 18: What you need to know and a prediction

    Jeff McLane’s keys to Eagles vs. Commanders in Week 18: What you need to know and a prediction

    The Eagles host the Washington Commanders in a Week 18 matchup at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. Here’s what you need to know about the game:

    When the Eagles have the ball: It’s Tanner McKee time. Well, the Eagles will have more backups on offense than just the No. 2 quarterback, with the Eagles expected to rest their starters in the season finale. But having McKee under center will give a glimpse of how much he’s progressed in the last year and whether he can increase his value if the front office wants to entertain trade offers this offseason.

    He played well a year ago, completing 27 of 41 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns against New York Giants starters in Week 18. McKee will be facing another comparatively poor defense, but will he have enough around him to get the job done?

    Tanner McKee is ready to ‘play fast’ in his next opportunity to start at quarterback with the Eagles

    The Eagles’ offensive line, from left to right, is expected to be: Fred Johnson, Brett Toth, Drew Kendall, Matt Pryor, and Cameron Williams. McKee will have two rookies blocking for him, with Kendall and Williams at center and right tackle, respectively. Williams was activated on Thursday after spending almost the entire season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

    Washington isn’t strong at edge rusher. The Eagles allowed just one outside pressure when the teams played in Week 16. But Williams may need help on occasion. While McKee had returning-from-injury Dallas Goedert for about a quarter last January, and targeted the tight end on six of the 13 plays he was on the field, he will have no such luxury this season. Receiver Jahan Dotson will likely be the lone starter to play. Dotson is often the fifth option when on the field with the first offense, but the former Commander caught 7 of 11 targets for 94 yards in last season’s finale.

    I could see Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo leaning into their under-center offense on Sunday. The Eagles have done it more with McKee than with Jalen Hurts, although the sample may not be large enough to make any definitive claims. In the final drive of the Las Vegas Raiders blowout three weeks ago and against New York last year, McKee completed 7 of 9 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown when throwing off play-action from under center.

    The second unit offensive line will need to block better on the ground if under-center runs are to be productive. But the Commanders have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. They rank 29th in expected points added (EPA) per rush. (Of note: Three of the league’s bottom four run defenses are the Eagles’ NFC East rivals.)

    Tank Bigsby fans should see the running back get a high volume of carries. He enters averaging 6.4 yards a carry with the Eagles and has 98 rushing yards over expected, per NextGen Stats, which is 22 more than starter Saquon Barkley, who has 238 more tries. Will Shipley will be featured in the backfield as well, more likely on passing downs. He could be a check-down favorite for McKee.

    Tight end Grant Calcaterra should also get more chances to do what he does best, which is run routes and catch the ball, vs. the run blocking that has contributed to some of the Eagles’ struggles in that regard. But mostly, it’ll be interesting to see McKee operate with Patullo at the controls.

    Washington lacks talent and is on the older side, but veteran linebacker Bobby Wagner is still a run-defending machine. And edge rusher Von Miller should have enough gas in the tank to trouble Williams.

    The Eagles got after Josh Johnson when he relieved an injured Marcus Mariota in Week 16.

    When the Commanders have the ball: Speaking of old guys, 39-year-old Josh Johnson will be making only his 11th career start at quarterback since being drafted by the Bucs in 2008. It’ll be his second straight start after backup Marcus Mariota was knocked out against the Eagles two weeks ago.

    Johnson looked overwhelmed as a mid-game replacement and threw a bad interception to cornerback Cooper DeJean. He fared better with a week of preparation and completed 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards against the Dallas Cowboys. The Commanders struggled to get much going on offense and lost, 30-23, but offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury schemed up explosive plays on the ground and through the air to help Johnson.

    Deebo Samuel was the benefactor of a 41-yard screen pass and a 29-yard end-around. The Eagles have to always be cognizant of where Samuel lines up and how motion misdirects defenders away from him.

    Running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran for touchdowns of 72 and 10 yards on more traditional runs against the Cowboys. The Commanders won’t have a mobile quarterback like they normally do with Jayden Daniels or Mariota to help the rushing offense. And they’ll be without three-fifths of their starting offensive line. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil, right guard Sam Cosmi, and center dress are out.

    The Eagles will have a decidedly different look up front. A year ago, defensive tackle Jordan Davis played a bunch of snaps in the finale. He’ll likely be one of a dozen or so starters who dress on Sunday, but the Eagles will do their best to keep him off the field. He’s come a long way in 12 months.

    Byron Young and Ty Robinson will take most of the snaps in the interior. Joshua Uche, who’s been inactive the last five games, will finally get an opportunity to get some repetitions at outside linebacker. Jihaad Campbell was pressed into duty two weeks ago when Nakobe Dean suffered a hamstring injury, but the rookie linebacker is expected to start and play some. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Smael Mondon will likely log most of the time at off-ball linebacker.

    The Eagles could be most susceptible in the secondary. Terry McLaurin vs. most any cornerback would favor the Washington receiver. Cornerback Kelee Ringo and whoever lines up opposite him — Jakorian Bennett or rookie Mac McWilliams — may often get help from safeties Sydney Brown and Andre’ Sam against McLaurin.

    Extra point: The line hasn’t moved much, even after it was reported that Sirianni would rest his starters. The Eagles are around 4-point favorites. The news that Johnson was officially starting likely offset any advantage the Commanders might have been expected to gain. Washington coach Dan Quinn doesn’t seem like the tanking type, but it didn’t appear as if he was in any rush to get Mariota back.

    The Commanders can improve their draft standing several slots with a loss, and I have to wonder how much the players are motivated at this stage of the season. But I thought they played hard in their last several games, and they may be looking for payback after a first meeting full of chippiness and altercations.

    Eagles vs. Commanders predictions: Our writers pick a winner for Week 18

    The Eagles can still improve their playoff seeding with a victory coupled with a Chicago Bears loss to the Detroit Lions. I understand Sirianni’s rationale for giving his starters the game off. He can’t control getting the No. 2 seed, but he can decide who plays and who doesn’t. The Eagles aren’t exactly beat up, but it’s been a long season. A week of rest may help. Tackle Jordan Mailata spoke more about the mental benefits than the physical.

    As for the game, I think we may see Patullo use McKee at quarterback as an opportunity to dip into the playbook. That’s no knock against Hurts, but the Eagles have become predictable in certain respects, and I can see more diversity helping their cause. Sirianni has more depth than most teams, but I don’t think his squad is as deep as it was a year ago. I think what’s left of Washington’s first unit has enough to hold on.

    Prediction: Commanders 23, Eagles 20.

  • Training camp darling Darius Cooper will get his chance to shine again Sunday for the Eagles

    Training camp darling Darius Cooper will get his chance to shine again Sunday for the Eagles

    Darius Cooper was the training camp darling.

    “That’s what they call it?” Cooper asked with a smile Thursday, four months after he dazzled as an undrafted Eagles free agent during practices and preseason games.

    The wide receiver out of FCS Tarleton State benefited from a few injuries during camp, but he forced his way onto the 53-man roster with his work ethic and all-around game. A converted high school quarterback, Cooper was second in all of Division I (FBS included) last season in receiving yards with 1,450 on a school-record 76 catches. He also holds Tarleton State’s career receiving yards record.

    Eagles vs. Commanders predictions: Our writers pick a winner for Week 18

    He was, in simplest terms, the man. But life in the NFL, on a team with one of the best wide receiver tandems in the sport, sometimes means taking a back seat.

    “I kind of think about it like my transition from high school to college,” Cooper said. “The first couple of years, I was a big special teams guy. Then, boom, you get your opportunity. It’s kind of the same mindset. I’ve been here before.”

    Darius Cooper is brought down by Chargers safety Tony Jefferson during the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ Monday night loss on Dec. 8.

    Cooper has played 158 offensive snaps so far during his rookie season, and 138 of those were after Week 7. His role has increased as the season has progressed, but he has been targeted just six times and has six catches for 59 yards.

    Life behind A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Jahan Dotson means a lesser role than Cooper has been used to in his team’s offensive game planning. Cooper’s best play this season isn’t a catch, it is a block from Week 14. The Eagles lined up in the Tush Push formation and instead ran a toss to Saquon Barkley to the left side of the alignment. Cooper worked his way into the second level and got a body on Los Angeles Chargers safety R.J. Mickens. The broadcast camera picked up the sound of the hit.

    “That was a big one,” Cooper said. “I think that was the most I got excited on the field for sure.”

    Sunday offers an opportunity for Cooper to get excited about plays on which the ball is in his hands. It certainly will come his way more than it has in a game this season. He may match or exceed his season-long targets in Sunday’s game alone. The Eagles are resting regulars for their season finale vs. Washington, and Cooper likely will start on the other side of Dotson with Tanner McKee doing the quarterbacking.

    Cooper’s rookie season has been a whirlwind. The 24-year-old found out he made the team on cutdown day in a meeting with Nick Sirianni and Howie Roseman. He left that meeting and called his wife, Kennady, a relationship that began when they attended Missouri’s Hazelwood West High School. Their professional lives would start in a big NFL market, thanks to his performance at camp.

    Tanner McKee is ready to ‘play fast’ in his next opportunity to start at quarterback with the Eagles

    Cooper changed his number from No. 41 to No. 80, a more reasonable number for a receiver, not one handed to a player near the bottom of the 90-man camp roster. Then he got to work on his development. He learned tips and tricks from Brown, Smith, and Dotson, “so many small things you don’t even think about that I never got taught,” Cooper said.

    Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee celebrates a touchdown pass with wide receiver Darius Cooper late during a preseason game on Aug. 7.

    “He’s another guy that works really hard, and I think that’s a product of the guys that he’s around,” Sirianni said. “He works hard because he has that in him, and that’s the standard of our guys. He continues to get better because you got no choice when you work that way, when you love football, when you’re tough, like all of those things that Darius is.”

    Cooper is like most backups in that he tries to prepare every week like he’s going to have a big role because anything can happen. This week, then, was about sticking to that process, even though he knew his role was going to be bigger from the outset of the practice week.

    “If you change your mindset and change your preparation, you’re making it bigger than what it is,” Cooper said. “At that point, I feel like you’re not just out there free and playing. You’re kind of overthinking it. You don’t ever want to overthink, especially in this game. You just want to fly around and have fun and make plays.”

    But Cooper is cognizant of the fact that he’s still a rookie making first impressions and trying to put good film out there. He won training camp in 2025, but 2026 is another year.

    “When your number is called, you got to step up to the plate,” Cooper said. “This week is a very big week, but you can’t overthink it. You just got to have fun. It’s still a game, at the end of the day.”

    Injury report

    The Eagles ruled out Jalen Carter (hip), Nakobe Dean (hamstring), Marcus Epps (concussion), Dallas Goedert (knee), Lane Johnson (foot), and Jaelan Phillips (ankle) for Sunday’s game vs. Washington. Most of them were not expected to play anyway.

    Carter’s hip injury is new this week. He said it happened during the game vs. the Buffalo Bills, but it’s not something to worry about keeping him out of next week’s playoff opener.

    Washington will start Josh Johnson at quarterback after ruling out Marcus Mariota (hand/quad). Star left tackle Laremy Tunsil (oblique) is out, too.

  • Commanders prepare for ‘the lion’s den’ at the Linc for a Week 18 matchup vs. the Eagles

    Commanders prepare for ‘the lion’s den’ at the Linc for a Week 18 matchup vs. the Eagles

    The Eagles will host the Washington Commanders to close out the regular season on Sunday. The last time the teams met was Dec. 20, when the Eagles clinched the division with a 29-18 victory and became the first team to win back-to-back NFC East titles since 2004.

    Now, the Eagles enter as 3.5-point favorites. Will quarterback Tanner McKee lead the Eagles (11-5) to victory? Or will the 4-12 Commanders come out on top at Lincoln Financial Field?

    Here’s what the Commanders are saying about the Eagles:

    ‘I expect another hard battle Sunday’

    Although the Eagles plan on sitting most of their starters, including Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts, Commanders coach Dan Quinn is treating Sunday’s game like any other. When asked if the Birds’ decision to rest their starters changed anything, Quinn responded: “Not for us.”

    “By no means are we at full strength, nor are most teams in the NFL during Week 18,” Quinn told reporters. “But what I do love is the number of guys that are really hungry for this opportunity and chance to compete together. We had so many players miss time, they want a chance to express themselves and to prove it.

    “So when you miss games and stretches of games, you’re hungry for that competition and you’re hungry for that space. In our league, we practice way more than we play. So they want to be able to go play, and I love that about our guys. We had a hard battle with them two weeks ago, and I expect another hard battle Sunday.”

    Eagles vs. Commanders Week 18 prediction roundup: Will the Birds end the season with a win?

    ‘We get to go into the lion’s den’

    The Eagles trailed, 10-7, at halftime in their Week 16 matchup at Northwest Stadium before taking over in the final 30 minutes. One of the biggest storylines coming out of the game was Nick Sirianni’s decision to go for two late in the game to give the Eagles a 19-point lead. After the two-point conversion, a fight broke out between the teams, resulting in three ejections.

    Commanders quarterback Josh Johnson is looking forward to playing in one of the tougher fan environments in the NFL on Sunday.

    “It’s awesome,” Johnson told reporters. “We get to go into the lion’s den. I love it. I wouldn’t change it. It’s great to be able to have a game of this caliber vs. this type of team to finish the season. So I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. Football is going to have to be played at the highest level. In order to beat this team, we got to play at a very high level, and I’m looking forward to us going out there and playing at a high level.”

    Third-string quarterback Josh Johnson will start for the Commanders on Sunday.

    Johnson understands the challenge he will face on Sunday.

    “We got to do what we do well,” Johnson said. “Execute. Stay on task. Keep the chains moving, and then score touchdowns. They got a lot of great players, but we got great players too. We have to trust our techniques; we got to trust our fundamentals.

    “The good thing about going against great players in this league is that it holds you to a standard of doing the little things right over and over. And I think that’s a great challenge for us to go out there and finish on a strong note by going out there and doing the little things right over and over again and coming away with a victory.”

    Eagles remain favorites over the Commanders; plus, game props for Week 18

    ‘Go try to win that game’

    Although the Commanders aren’t going to the playoffs, they’re still entering Sunday’s game with one goal on their mind: winning.

    “There’s a million ways to look at this game,” Commanders center Nick Allegretti told reporters. “Obviously, this is the last game of the season for us. But everyone in this locker room in their life has dreamed of being in this situation. If you told me when I was 10 that I would get a chance to play in a Week 18 game, I think it would be the coolest thing in the world. … We get a chance to play against another NFL team. Go try to win that game. Who cares about what happened the week before or the week after?”

  • Eagles remain favorites over the Commanders; plus, game props for Week 18

    Eagles remain favorites over the Commanders; plus, game props for Week 18

    Coming off a win over the Buffalo Bills, the Eagles (11-5) will host the Washington Commanders (4-12) before they head into the postseason. As both teams prepare for the Week 18 matchup, here’s an updated look at the game odds and some prop bets from two of the biggest sportsbooks …

    Eagles vs. Commanders updated odds

    The Eagles beat the Commanders, 29-18, on Dec. 20 at Northwest Stadium to clinch the NFC East. Entering this week, the Eagles were 7.5-point favorites. Now, with plans to rest most of their starters, the odds have slightly changed.

    FanDuel

    • Spread: Eagles -3.5 (-120); Commanders +3.5 (-102)
    • Moneyline: Eagles (-200); Commanders (+168)
    • Total: Over 39.5 (-105); Under 39.5 (-115)

    DraftKings

    • Spread: Eagles -4.5 (-102); Commanders +4.5 (-118)
    • Moneyline: Eagles (-218); Commanders (+180)
    • Total: Over 38.5 (-112); Under 38.5 (-108)
    Eagles vs. Commanders predictions: Our writers pick a winner for Week 18

    Total touchdowns

    There are no individual player props on FanDuel or DraftKings. However, there are a few game props that fans can bet on, such as total touchdowns for both teams.

    Tanner McKee will start at quarterback for the Eagles for the first time since last season’s Week 18 win over the New York Giants, when he threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

    The Commanders will start third-string quarterback Josh Johnson, who passed for 198 yards in his first start of the season last week in a 30-23 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

    FanDuel

    DraftKings

    Team to score first

    The Eagles have better odds to score first. The last time the teams met, the Commanders managed to get the first points on the board with a field goal and Marcus Mariota under center.

    FanDuel

    DraftKings

    First scoring play

    Although a Commanders field goal was the first scoring play in their last meeting, an Eagles touchdown has the best first-scoring play odds for this week’s contest in both sportsbooks. Betting on an Eagles or Commanders safety could offer the greatest potential payout.

    FanDuel

    DraftKings

  • Eagles vs. Commanders Week 18 prediction roundup: Will the Birds end the season with a win?

    Eagles vs. Commanders Week 18 prediction roundup: Will the Birds end the season with a win?

    After three consecutive wins, the Eagles are hosting the Washington Commanders to end the regular season. Heading into the matchup, the Birds are 3.5-point favorites. Here’s how experts in the local and national media are predicting Sunday’s game …

    Inquirer predictions

    We start with our own beat writers. Here’s an excerpt from Jeff Neiburg’s prediction …

    To see how our other beat writers are predicting this one, check out our full Eagles-Commanders preview here.

    National media predictions

    Here’s a look at who the national media is picking for Sunday’s game …

    • ESPN: Seven of eight panelists are picking the Birds straight up.
    • CBS Sports: All five experts are leaning toward the Eagles.
    • USA Today: All three panelists like the Eagles.
    • Bleacher Report: Five of seven analysts are choosing the Birds.
    • Sporting News: Bill Bender has the Eagles winning 28-17.

    Local media predictions

    Here’s what other local media think will happen on Sunday …

    • Delaware Online: They’re heavily leaning toward the home team, with eight of nine panelists choosing the Birds.
  • A familiar voice to Birds fans will call Eagles-Commanders on CBS

    A familiar voice to Birds fans will call Eagles-Commanders on CBS

    While the Eagles are prioritizing next week’s wild-card game, Sunday’s matchup against the Commanders is the sole focus of one announcer who grew up rooting for the Birds.

    Ross Tucker, the Eagles preseason announcer on NBC10 since 2019, will call Eagles-Commanders on CBS alongside veteran play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. Sunday.

    Tucker, a Wyomissing native and former NFL offensive lineman, has called a number of Eagles games on radio for Westwood One, where he’s worked since 2015. But Sunday will be his first chance broadcasting a Birds game on TV for CBS.

    “It’s super cool for me on multiple levels,” Tucker said. “I grew up an Eagles fan, and all my friends are Eagles fans, so this will be really neat for them.”

    It’s a stroke of luck on many fronts. Ordinarily, Tucker works games on CBS’s No. 6 crew alongside Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy. But Harlan’s normal broadcast partner, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, is off this weekend to attend his son’s wedding, opening a slot for Tucker.

    Despite that, the Eagles game wasn’t on Tucker’s radar, since Fox traditionally is the home of NFC games. But under new TV deals that began in 2021, the NFL is only required to schedule one of each NFC divisional matchup on Fox, which aired Eagles-Commanders in Week 16.

    Tucker didn’t know he landed the Birds game until CBS announced their broadcast lineups Tuesday.

    “I knew I was doing the game with Kevin for about three or four weeks, but I had no idea it would turn out to be the Eagles game,” Tucker said. “It’s really fortuitous.”

    This will be the first game Tucker and Harlan have called together on TV, but the two have been paired on radio a bunch on Westwood One, including for playoff games. Harlan has called games alongside plenty of analysts during his 40-year career, but thinks Tucker’s insight as a former offensive lineman in a broadcasting world dominated by former quarterbacks is enlightening.

    “Ross picks up nuance and the right way to capture what a line is doing or not doing, and I just find that refreshing,” Harlan said.

    With the Eagles resting their starters, it turned out to be a prescient move by CBS to turn to Tucker, who watched every preseason snap and knows the Birds’ backups better than most. Harlan also calls preseason games for the Green Bay Packers, but that won’t help him much when it comes to the Birds’ backups.

    “It’s a great challenge to come in and do a bunch of players I’m not really familiar with,” Harlan said. “I’m probably going to let Ross kind of lead things that he finds interesting to get the ball rolling, and then we’ll let the game take it from there.”

    Calling Sunday’s Eagles game certainly is a milestone for Tucker, but he remains a workhorse. In addition to calling NFL games for CBS and Westwood One (where he’ll broadcast playoff games), he calls college football games and continues to host the daily Ross Tucker Football Podcast. He also nearly replaced Angelo Cataldi as the morning host on 94.1 WIP, but a daily commute from Reading to Philadelphia for a 6 a.m. show wasn’t in the cards.

    “I still feel like I’m just grinding and trying to move up the ranks and doing the best I can,” Tucker said.

    Ross Tucker (right) called NFL games on CBS in 2025 alongside Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy.

    Tucker’s only regret is not being able to call his first Eagles game alongside McCarthy. The two have been friends since McCarthy called Tucker’s college football games at Princeton. And McCarthy, in his 12th season calling NFL games for CBS, has yet to land the Eagles, though he remains the only announcer not named Jim Nantz to call a game with Tony Romo.

    “He is the best,” McCarthy said of Tucker. “Just a tremendous partner. We have had such an amazing year.”

    But McCarthy has a nice consolidation prize. He will be in Cincinnati Sunday calling the Bengals’ matchup against the Cleveland Browns, where he’ll have the chance to voice Myles Garrett breaking the NFL’s single-season sack record (22), currently held by Michael Strahan.

    Where on TV is Eagles-Commanders airing

    Among other places, Sunday’s Eagles game is airing in Tampa, where a lot of Birds fans call home.

    This season, the Eagles have had their fair share of nationally televised games. That won’t be the case Sunday.

    In addition to the Philadelphia TV market, Eagles-Commanders also is airing in Washington, D.C., and throughout most of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The game also will be available on CBS in Tampa, Fla., which an outsized number of Eagles fans call home.

    It’s airing in two TV markets home to teams the Eagles have a chance of facing in the first round of the playoffs — San Francisco and Green Bay, along with most of Minnesota and all of Detroit.

    It’ll also broadcast in Chicago, where Bears fans will be flipping to see which team ends up with the No. 2 seed.

    Los Angeles Rams fans will be out of luck, though. While the Eagles likely will face the Rams, CBS2 in Los Angeles is locked into airing the Chargers’ game against the Denver Broncos, where the AFC’s No. 1 seed is on the line.

    Other NFL games airing Sunday in Philadelphia

    D’Andre Swift and the Bears will lock down the No. 2 seed with a win Sunday.

    Eagles fans in Philadelphia will get plenty of games Sunday impacting the playoffs.

    Saturday night on ESPN, Carolina Panthers-Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely decide the winner of the NFC South (although the Atlanta Falcons could play spoilers Sunday) while the winner of Seattle Seahawks-San Francisco 49ers will claim the NFC West crown and the No. 1 seed.

    Sunday afternoon, Fox will air Detroit Lions-Chicago Bears at 4:25 p.m. If the Eagles win and the Bears lose, the Birds will head to the playoffs as the No. 2 seed and host the Packers in the wild-card round. Otherwise the Birds will be the No. 3 seed and face the 49ers or Rams.

    Sunday night, NBC has a win-or-go-home game in the Baltimore Ravens at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The winner heads to the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 4 seed.

    Here are the games airing on TV in and around Philadelphia in Week 18:

    Saturday

    • Panthers at Buccaneers: 4:30 p.m., ESPN (Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick, Katie George, Peter Schrager)
    • Seahawks at 49ers: 8 p.m., ESPN/6abc (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge)

    Sunday

    • Packers at Vikings: 1 p.m., CBS3 (Spero Dedes, Adam Archuleta, Aditi Kinkhabwala)
    • Cowboys at Giants: 1 p.m., Fox29 (Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnston, Allison Williams)
    • Commanders at Eagles: 4:25 p.m., CBS3 (Kevin Harlan, Ross Tucker, Melanie Collins)
    • Lions at Bears: 4:25 p.m., Fox29 (Kevin Burkhardt, Tom Brady, Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi)
    • Ravens at Steelers: 8:20 p.m., NBC10 (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark)
    Rams loss in Week 17 eliminated one Eagles wild-card opponent as playoffs approach
  • Stories that could shake Philly sports in 2026, from Lane Johnson and A.J. Brown to Bryce Harper and Shane Steichen

    Stories that could shake Philly sports in 2026, from Lane Johnson and A.J. Brown to Bryce Harper and Shane Steichen

    You never see the biggest stories coming. That’s kind of by definition, isn’t it?

    The year 2025 was relatively quiet one as far as seismic activity goes. The Sixers’ arena switcheroo probably was the biggest pure news story next to the Eagles’ Super Bowl win. Compare that to 2024, in which Saquon Barkley and Paul George signed, Jason Kelce retired, Matvei Michikov arrived, and the Sixers went belly-up. That, in addition to Carter Hart being arrested, Cutter Gauthier forcing a trade, and Haason Reddick being traded.

    It’s impossible to say whether the earth will shake in 2026. But if it does, here is how it could happen:

    The thrill of victory and the exasperation of trying to feel good about it define the 2025 Eagles

    1. Lane Johnson announces his retirement after 13 NFL seasons and leaves the Eagles scrambling.

    At this point, nothing suggests that Johnson will seriously consider retiring after the season. The contract extension he signed last year tacked on $40 million in guarantees in 2025 and 2026. That’s a pretty good reason for Eagles fans to take comfort, especially if Johnson returns to the field for the postseason, as is expected. He’d be walking away from some serious money if he retired this offseason.

    At the same time, we’d be foolish not to at least acknowledge the possibility, given the dramatic implications it would have on the Eagles’ roster. Johnson has been the single biggest reason the Eagles have seamlessly bridged their competitive teams through a rotating cast of quarterbacks and head coaches. There will be no replacing him, at least not immediately.

    Johnson has been open about the punishment that the NFL has inflicted upon his body over the years. That’s worth noting after a regular season in which he missed seven games because of injury for the first time since 2020 and just the second time in his career.

    At 35 years and 239 days, Johnson is the second-oldest offensive lineman to play at least 300 snaps this season. Only Kelvin Beachum has him beat at 36 years, 207 days. Since 2015, only seven offensive linemen have a season of 12-plus starts at age 36 or older.

    Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown shown after making a catch against the Bills on Sunday in Buffalo.

    2. A.J. Brown gets traded for a conditional 2027 second round pick that can become a first; Eagles immediately invest in a replacement.

    Forget about Brown’s public grumbling for a moment. Consider instead this fact: In the 10 games in which Brown has seen eight or more targets, the Eagles are 5-5. In the five games in which he has seen fewer than eight targets, the Eagles are 5-0. Kind of strange, isn’t it?

    Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but Brown’s on-field performance clearly has dipped this season. In his first three years with the Eagles, he looked like a receiver who belonged in the conversation for best in the sport. That hasn’t been the case this season. The explosiveness, the burst, the strength at the point of attack and in the air appear to be diminished. The numbers reflect it. His 8.3 yards-per-target is down nearly 20% from 2022 to 2024 (10.3), as is his yards per reception (12.9, down from 15.4) and his catch percentage (52.1, down from 56.3).

    Brown is at an age at which decline can come fast at the wide receiver position. Cooper Kupp hasn’t broken 850 yards in a season since turning 29. Same goes for Brandin Cooks and Odell Beckham Jr.

    DeAndre Hopkins averaged 1,380 yards per season from 25-28 years old and 644 yards at 29-30 years old. Adam Thielen averaged 6.4 catches and 82.8 yards per game at 27-28 and 4.2 catches and 53.7 yards at 29-30.

    The Eagles wouldn’t be foolish to rest their starters in Week 18. But they’d better be right.

    Alshon Jeffery, Allen Robinson, Michael Thomas, Tyreek Hill … the list goes on. For Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Stefon Diggs, and Antonio Brown, the drop-off came at 30 or 31.

    There are exceptions: Davante Adams, Keenan Allen, Mike Evans. But they are very much exceptions.

    To justify trading Brown, the Eagles almost certainly would have to have a replacement lined up. Jahan Dotson clearly isn’t a suitable second option. In the four regular-season games Brown has missed over the last two seasons, Dotson has a total of five catches for 25 yards. In those four games, the Eagles’ total wide receiver production outside of DeVonta Smith was 20 catches for 94 yards.

    The Eagles would save about $7 million against the cap if they traded Brown after June 1. They might be able to accommodate a free-agent offer to somebody like Alec Pierce, the Colts deep threat whose all-around game took an intriguing step forward this season. But there are a lot of teams that will be in the free-agent market this season, with the Patriots and dream quarterback Drake Maye at the top of the list.

    Even if Brown isn’t the player at 29 years old that he was at 27, he would still be difficult to replace. Combined with the limited financial upside of moving him, we’ll have to see this story to believe it.

    Sixers center Joel Embiid has scored 27 or more points in his last three games.

    3. Joel Embiid helps to lead the Sixers to a first-round playoff upset and sparks trade interest among teams desperate to catch the Thunder and Spurs.

    Embiid entered the new year having scored 27-plus points in three straight games. That counts as an accomplishment these days. He looked like an empty husk of his former self in his first nine games of the 2025-26 season, averaging just 18.2 points on a woeful .441 effective field goal percentage.

    Question is, what if Embiid’s recent uptick in minutes and production is a signal that he has more left in the tank than we’ve given him credit for? He still needs to show a lot more defensively. And he has yet to play more than 71 minutes in a seven-day span. But he just logged 38 minutes in an overtime win over the Grizzlies, four days after playing a season-high 32 minutes in a loss to the Bulls.

    With three years and $188 million left on his contract after this season, Embiid would probably have to be playing at his prime MVP level to have positive trade value. A more realistic question is whether he can play well enough to change the Sixers’ short-term narrative.

    4. Eagles hire Shane Steichen or Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator.

    The Colts would be foolish to fire Steichen, who has somehow managed to put together a 25-25 record with the following starting quarterbacks: Gardner Minshew (7-6), Daniel Jones (8-5), Anthony Richardson (8-7), Joe Flacco (2-4), and Philip Rivers (0-3). But here is what owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon told the Athletic recently:

    Tanner McKee is ready to ‘play fast’ in his next opportunity to start at quarterback with the Eagles

    “Most people don’t like change,” said Irsay-Gordon, who has been patrolling the sidelines with a clipboard all season. “I think there’s something wrong with me, but I feel like it is the one thing that is a guarantee. I think it can be exciting.”

    Even if the Colts part ways with Steichen, a team like the Giants could easily snatch him up. I can’t imagine Nick Sirianni would demote himself from head coach in order to restore Steichen as the play-caller. It definitely would be a heck of a story.

    McDaniel might be a more realistic option, although he may be in the process of saving his job by leading the Dolphins to five wins in seven games.

    5. Bryce Harper takes another step backward, as do the Phillies.

    There has been enough passive-aggressive weirdness percolating between Harper and management that we have to at least flag him as the main character in a potential major story. Dave Dombrowski rankled Harper when he mused about Harper’s eliteness, but it is a legitimate question. At 32 years old, Harper is coming off his worst season in a decade. Another step backward would raise some serious concerns. And create some serious headlines.

  • Marcus Epps’ NFL career was in jeopardy last summer. He believes his return home to the Eagles was meant to be

    Marcus Epps’ NFL career was in jeopardy last summer. He believes his return home to the Eagles was meant to be

    Cooper DeJeanhas sat just a few stalls away from Marcus Epps in the NovaCare Complex locker room day after day, practice after practice since September.

    But, on Game Days, the second-year nickel cornerback says he hardly recognizes Epps.

    The relaxed, laid-back safety doesn’t make a peep, at least compared to the boisterous DeJean, who is constantly cracking jokes with his teammates. When Epps is on the field, though, DeJean said that calm demeanor dissipates as if a switch flips in his head.

    Enthusiasm emanates from Epps on every play. The 29-year-old wore his heart on his jersey sleeve in last Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills, especially on a critical goal-line stand late in the third quarter. After Epps stuffed James Cook for a loss of a yard on third down and Zack Baun prevented Josh Allen from scrambling into the end zone on fourth, Epps screamed and flexed on his way to the sideline.

    In moments like those, Reed Blankenship says he’s scared to give his fellow safety a high five.

    “He’ll try to slap me as hard as he can,” Blankenship explained. “I’m like, I don’t know if I want to do that. He’s just one of those dudes that you can tell that loves the game and loves the way it’s supposed to be played.”

    Epps shows his passion through his physicality, according to DeJean.

    “He loves to hit people,” DeJean said. “Loves to play downhill. You can tell he really loves to be out there just by the way he plays and his energy.”

    That love for football intensified when the game was taken away from Epps. This time last year, he was recovering from a torn ACL suffered early in the season as the starting safety for the Las Vegas Raiders.

    Initial devastation was eventually replaced by a new perspective, one that fueled Epps’ comeback in 2025 upon his return to the Eagles, the team he started for in the Super Bowl in 2022.

    Tanner McKee is ready to ‘play fast’ in his next opportunity to start at quarterback with the Eagles

    Epps says he doesn’t take any moment — even his shortcomings — for granted. His failure to make the New England Patriots roster out of training camp led him to sign to the Eagles’ practice squad two days later. Shortly after Drew Mukuba’s Week 12 ankle injury, Vic Fangio anointed a new starter in Epps, who has seamlessly slotted into one of the league’s most dominant defenses.

    Months of doubt over his NFL future gave way to a sense of gratitude in Philadelphia, even before he became an Eagles starter again.

    “I feel like this is exactly where I was supposed to be this season,” Epps said last week.

    Marcus Epps (1) started all 17 games for the Raiders in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury three games into the 2024 season.

    ‘Everything happens for a reason’

    On the morning of Las Vegas’ Week 4 game against the Cleveland Browns last season, Jakorian Bennett, then a Raiders cornerback, decided to switch up his pregame look.

    Bennett donned a black No. 1 Epps jersey as he walked through the Allegiant Stadium corridors to the locker room. Bennett, whom the Eagles acquired from the Raiders in early August, sought to honor Epps, who tore his ACL the week prior against the Carolina Panthers.

    Even though Epps was four years Bennett’s senior, the cornerback considered him his closest friend on the team. He admired Epps, who went from a University of Wyoming walk-on to a Minnesota Vikings sixth-round pick to an NFL starter in a span of eight years.

    “If you’d seen how much work he put in during the offseason, when you train so hard for, what, four months? Three months? Whatever it is,” Bennett said. “It’s year-round, really, and for it to just kind of be, I don’t want to say that it was just a waste, but just for it to kind of go out that way, it’s kind of unfortunate.”

    Jalen Hurts says he trusts Eagles coaches with sit-or-start decision — and the offense’s direction

    Bennett, 25, knew just how much work Epps had put in during the offseason. Bennett’s NFL career began with the Raiders in 2023, the same year Epps joined the team after 3½ years with the Eagles. Since then, Bennett has spent two weeks of the summer training with the veteran safety at the gym he owns in Costa Mesa, Calif.

    Epps and Bennett initially gravitated toward each other because they both “do things the right way,” the cornerback explained. That approach applies to their preparation, from their film study to the way they take care of their bodies.

    Their bond grew stronger in 2024, when they supported each other through season-ending injuries. Bennett had shoulder surgery in November that shut him down for the rest of the year. While Epps called his own recovery a “difficult process” that required him to lean on his loved ones, it also put his career into perspective.

    “I realized even more so, how much I really just love football, and just want to be out there as much as I can and play this game for as long as I can,” Epps said. “That perspective just helped me every day in terms of getting up in the morning and continuing to put the work in.”

    Marcus Epps could not navigate a crowded depth chart in New England in the preseason, dimming his career prospects in the process.

    Epps said he went through plenty of “dark days” during his rehab. He understood the reality of his situation — there was no guarantee that everything he worked to achieve as a starter would be waiting for him in the end. Regardless, he said he believed that everything would work out for the best.

    Better days did not immediately arrive. Epps signed with the Patriots on a one-year deal in the offseason, a decision he said he made because they “came after me and they made it seem like they wanted me there.”

    But he never made progress up the depth chart, leading to his release at the end of August. The Eagles came calling that same day, a silver lining to his stint in New England.

    “That experience, I feel like, brought me back here,” Epps said. “Everything happens for a reason. Got to be able to just stay true to yourself, keep working, have faith in God and that he’s going to put you in the right spot.”

    A ‘seamless’ transition

    There’s a little bit of weirdness that comes with being the guy who returns to his former squad after a hiatus, according to Epps.

    No, that feeling wasn’t associated with his having signed with another team in free agency following the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss. Rather, Epps returned to a familiar place filled with unfamiliar faces, especially on a defense under second-year Eagles coordinator Fangio. Of course, he had to learn Fangio’s scheme, too.

    “[Epps] was asking me questions,” said Bennett, who had arrived in Philadelphia just a few weeks earlier. “I’m like, ‘Hey, brother, can’t really help you with that one.’”

    The uniform might have been familiar for Marcus Epps (39), but there was a lot to learn after three years away.

    While Epps acknowledged he had to make an adjustment, former teammates such as Blankenship, Jalen Hurts, and A.J. Brown, plus safeties coach Joe Kasper, who was a defensive quality control coach during Epps’ first stint, made his transition easier.

    “Everybody really just greeted me with open arms,” Epps said. “And I can’t say enough about that and how much I appreciated that, this locker room and this building just welcoming me back and making me feel like I was wanted here and appreciated here.”

    Blankenship’s appreciation for Epps dates to his rookie season in 2022, when the elder safety became his mentor. As Blankenship learned Jonathan Gannon’s scheme, Epps implored him to start small. He wasn’t going to become Ed Reed overnight.

    Even when Epps wasn’t starting earlier in the 2025 season, he took that same approach with the younger safeties in the room, all while staying ready for his opportunity. Blankenship said he knows how it feels to be on the receiving end of the wisdom that Mukuba, Sydney Brown, and Andrè Sam received.

    “He helped me out a lot with doing that, how to break down film, just how to communicate as a whole,” Blankenship said. “I feel like he does a really good job of doing that now.”

    Then wearing No. 22, Marcus Epps (center) played 54 games as an Eagle from 2019-22, starting all 17 games in the final season of his first run with the team.

    DeJean also highlighted Epps’ communication skills, stating that it’s the reason why he has been able to make an impact on the defense so quickly. Epps is adept at making sure his teammates are on the same page by communicating what he sees from the opposing offense before the snap.

    His familiarity with Blankenship has helped his transition, too. Blankenship and Epps started five games together between the regular season and postseason in 2022. Their trust flourished in that span, when Epps saw firsthand just how much work Blankenship was putting in behind the scenes. Epps said he knew the rookie would be ready to play every week.

    Even though they’re playing in a new defense now, Epps said they picked up where they left off three seasons ago.

    “Just having played with him before and having that chemistry and trust especially, I think that’s a huge thing, especially in this system,” Epps said. “The safeties have to have a lot of trust and a lot of chemistry. And it made that a lot easier that we already had that in place. So from there, it’s just communication. And it really felt like it was seamless.”

    Epps won’t see the field in the season finale against the Washington Commanders. Instead, he’ll continue his recovery from a concussion after he reported symptoms following Thursday’s practice.

    Three reassuring Eagles stats, and three reasons to worry ahead of the NFL playoffs

    Then, the playoffs await — Epps’ first postseason appearance since the Super Bowl LVII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The veteran safety is eager to bring his playoff experience to the team this time around. He said he knows what it takes to make a long postseason run, even though he didn’t lift the Lombardi Trophy three years ago.

    His teammates appreciate his presence, too. Epps may not garner much attention off the field with his subdued personality, but Blankenship didn’t shy away from giving him his flowers.

    “It’s not just me, Cooper, or Zack back there,” Blankenship said. “It’s Epps, too. He knows what he’s doing. We’re very comfortable with him back there.”