An eventful week for the Philadelphia Eagles appears to have been capped with some very pleasant news. Preseason standouts Paul Turner and C.J Smith have been resigned to the practice squad according to an official announcement from the team, completing their ten-man unit.
#Eagles welcome back CB C.J. Smith and WR Paul Turner to the practice squad. LB Quentin Gause was released. pic.twitter.com/saq9IGln8v
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 5, 2016
In order to make room for the two new fan favorites, the Eagles waived LB Quentin Gause. The undrafted linebacker shone in the final preseason game, leading the team in tackles after a great summer. Unfortunately, the Eagles addition of Kamu Grugier-Hill added depth to a position that lacked..decreasing the value of Gause on the Practice squad.
C.J Smith, a former NDSU teammate of Carson Wentz had a brilliant preseason, leading his team in tackles against the Colts and coming down with a clutch interception against the Buccaneers. Smith was able to separate himself from the likes of JaCorey Shepherd and Denzel Rice to earn himself a roster spot after a very crowded battle but was eventually waived by the Eagles in the hope that he would clear waivers.
Smith becomes the third NDSU player on the Eagles roster, joining starting quarterback Carson Wentz and recently signed fullback Andrew Bonnet .
Paul Turner had the best preseason of any Eagles receiver, leading his team in receiving yards on numerous occasions and rapidly emerging as the most reliable pair of hands. The birds signed Bryce Treggs earlier today and unfortunately, while Turner was brilliant, he was still the receiver at the bottom of the pile. The Eagles hoped to sign Turner to the practice squad and after several teams looked in his direction, he opted to stay with the Eagles.
I'm told a few other teams wanted to sign Turner to their practice squads, but he elected to stay in Philly.
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) September 5, 2016
The practice squad is now officially at ten:
WR Marcus Johnson
WR Paul Turner
WR David Watford
RB Byron Marshall
FB Andrew Bonnet
C Aaron Neary
LB Don Cherry
CB C.J Smith
G Darrell Greene
DT Aziz Shittu
The saga has come to an end..and the legacy of undrafted Eagles preseason legends C.J Smith and Paul Turner lives on.
