Eagles start bye-week by working out six players

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The Eagles head into their Bye-week following a dominating win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that doesn’t mean the action stops for the City of Brotherly Love.

According to ESPN’s Adam Caplan, the Eagles worked out six players today, with three of them being tight ends.

The number of tight ends worked out shouldn’t be surprising. The Eagles have three active tight ends on their roster and none on their practice squad. Even though Zach Ertz is slated to return in week 5, the Eagles are still light at the position given how essential they are to Pederson’s Offense.

Here’s a closer look at the players worked out by the team:

Gannon Sinclair:
Most recently cut by the Chicago Bears, Sinclair was an undrafted free agent coming out of Missouri State in 2015. The 23 year old was signed by the Cardinals and later by Chicago, spending most of his time on the Bears practice squad. At 6’7, Sinclair certainly poses mismatch problems and received for 361 yards and 10 TDs in 24 games after transferring to Missouri State from North Dakota State College of Science.

 

Rory Anderson:
At 23-years old, Anderson is the youngest of the TE’s worked out by the Eagles today..but his frame fits in with the trend. 6’5 and 244 pounds is an impressive frame for a Tight end..but his athleticism is just as impressive. 954 yards and nine touchdown receptions were the numbers racked up by Anderson in his four year college career with South Carolina, averaging 15.6 yards per reception.

Anderson was drafted in the seventh round by the 49ers in 2015 before being placed on Injured reserve.

 

Marcel Jensen:
Jensen was also an undrafted free agent, a year before Sinclair. He signed to the Jaguars after the draft where he caught one pass for eight yards. At 6’6, Jensen also has an impressive frame..so much so that he recorded the second-highest vertical jump among tight ends at 35-inches.

Jenson has bounced around numerous rosters since joining the NFL, most recently spending time with the Redskins and having previously been a Bronco (where during the 2015 preseason, Jensen received for 48 yards), a Bill and a Falcon.

The 26-year old played in 38 games at Fresno State, recording 353 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns.

 

Logan Thomas:
After being waived by the Dolphins, the 24-year old was signed by the Giants in place of B.J Daniels. Thomas was originally drafted by the Cardinals and appeared in two games during his rookie season..completing just one of nine passes. That one pass however did conveniently go for a huge touchdown.

Miami signed Thomas to their practice squad and waived him before the former Virginia Tech quarterback completed 3/5 passes for 39 yards and a TD in the Giants final preseason game.

The Eagles have already signed Aaron Murray to be their third quarterback so were maybe..just maybe seeing if they could gather some intel on the Giants.

 

Duke Thomas:
An undrafted rookie out of Texas, Thomas was signed by the Texans waived him off IR, reaching an injury settlement. An eventual nickel corner for the longhorns after a steep learning curve, Thomas ended his College career with 173 tackles, 7 interceptions, 20 passes defensed and 6 tackles for a loss.

Thomas ran a 40-yard dash of 4.37 seconds and his versatility will certainly give him a good standing, given it’s one of the key focuses of Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Physicality is another..and something that the 5’10, 178 pound, corner displayed often during his time with the Longhorns.

 

 

Rolan Milligan:
The former Toledo Rocket signed with the Cowboys during the offseason before suffering a lingering injury problem that was never disclosed yet resulted in him being waived by the team.

A hard-hitting 5’11 safety, Milligan amassed 48 tackles as a senior along with two interceptions and five passes defensed. Most notably, he racked up nine tackles and knocked down two passes against Temple in their heartbreaking Bowl defeat in the e Marmot Boca Raton Bowl.

The 5-foot-11 safety had 48 tackles as a senior, four for loss. He also had two interceptions, five passes defended, and forced three fumbles. He had four games with at least eight tackles, including 10 at Massachusetts. He had a pair of pass breakups with nine tackles in the team’s bowl win over Temple.

 

It’s no coincidence that the Eagles are targeting positions currently setback by injury. Leodis McKelvin and Zach Ertz have both missed two games but are slated to return in week five. Maybe the Eagles are just looking at insurance policies..or they’re continuing to adopt their “low-risk, high reward” mentality. It’s also no coincidence however, that several of these players have had recent ties to NFC East rivals.

 

Mandatory credit: Brendan Maloney- USA TODAY Sports