Eagles News: Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru offer intrigue in NFL debuts

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles news and links …

Eagles preseason: Backup QB race goes backward, Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru debut – The Athletic
International players steal the show. When I remember this game a decade from now — what does it say about me that I might remember this game a decade from now? — I’ll focus less on the offense and the backup quarterbacks and more on an otherwise unremarkable drive in the third quarter when Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru played their first snaps of football in a game — ever. “How exciting for those two guys to be playing in an NFL football game?” Sirianni asked. Bernard, a native of Nigeria, and Weru, a native of Kenya, did not start practicing football until the spring. They didn’t wear full pads until two weeks ago. Consider how many youth league, high school or college games most everyone else on the field played before their NFL debuts. Bernard and Weru did it for the first time in this setting. In the locker room after the game, teammates told Bernard how proud they were of him. “It’s a dream come true for me,” said Bernard, who had chills when he went on the field. “I think I’m proud of myself.” There were signs of major development necessary, but there were also flashes you can get behind — especially with Weru. He gets less attention than Bernard, but don’t forget about the undrafted edge rusher who was an international rugby player. He had a quarterback hit, and you saw his burst chasing down the passer. Weru is 6 feet 4 and 244 pounds with a 4.45-second 40-yard dash and 41 1/2-inch vertical leap, and he’s demonstrated in practice tools that are hard to find at the position. Both players are a work in progress. Vic Fangio said they’re “light-years away.” But Weru said this week that you need to celebrate the wins during the development process. It was a refreshing outlook. And seeing Bernard disengage a blocker or Weru apply pressure, it’s hard not to think about how far they’ve already come rather than focus on how far they still have to go. Saturday night was a benchmark for them. It will be a lasting memory from the game.

Eagles lose to Ravens: Taking stock of Markel Bell, Tanner McKee, and Willie Lampkin – PHLY
Stock up, Joshua Weru. It took exactly one play in an organized football game for Joshua Weru to make an impact. The 6-4, 244-pound edge rusher from Kenya registered a quarterback hit on his first play early in the third quarter and got another pressure later in the drive. Weru’s moments were mostly flashes, but that could be sufficient to garner enough attention across the league to give him a case to make the initial 53-man roster. No other team had tape on Weru before tonight, and what he showed on tape tonight shows the upside that’s been apparent for those watching closely during training camp.

Eagles-Ravens preseason observations: Position battle updates, injury news, and more – BGN
The Philadelphia Eagles kicked off their 2026 preseason schedule with a LOSS to the Baltimore Ravens. Final score, which doesn’t matter, but we’re logging it here anyway: 24 to 7. To no surprise, the Eagles barely played any starters in this game. You could say that any football is better than no football but this was mostly a boring game. The Eagles’ offense mustered just 100 yards on their first 31 plays before Cole Payton finally led a scoring drive later in the fourth quarter. Read on for some noteworthy moments from Saturday night.

Eagles-Ravens, a Training Camp Fight, And the Jalen Hurts INT Controversy with BLG! – The Ringer’s Philly Special
The Eagles opened their 2026 preseason Saturday night with a 24-7 loss to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Sheil is joined by Brandon Lee Gowtown of Bleeding Green Nation to discuss the loss and any concerns or bright spots from the game. What’s going on with the backup QB battle between Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee? Who stood out to Sheil and BLG? Plus, a look ahead to the joint practices with the Eagles and Patriots and a discussion about ice cream.

Slopfest – Iggles Blitz
were dominant in all three phases of the game. The Eagles were out-gained by almost 300 yards and didn’t score until the final minutes of the game. Give Baltimore credit for playing well. But also make sure to acknowledge how poorly the Eagles performed. There were some good individual showings, but the overall team struggled mightily. The Eagles were 0 for 9 on third downs. They were 10-96 with penalties. The coaches will have a lot of mistakes to point out and teach from. Too many. The bad showing doesn’t mean the Eagles are a bad team or it is time to panic.

2026 NFL preseason Week 1: Game takeaways, analysis – ESPN
Eagles: The best rookie on the field for the Eagles was tackle Markel Bell, as has been the case all summer. The 6-foot-9, 346-pound third-round pick out of Miami got the start at right tackle and showed the power and poise (he drove a defensive lineman back 6 yards on one run play) that have fueled the organization’s increasing confidence in him. With Lane Johnson coming off an injury-riddled season and likely entering his last NFL campaign, Bell’s emergence appears right on time. Quarterback Cole Payton, the fifth-round pick out of North Dakota State, got the offense rolling late, using his legs to get into striking distance before throwing a TD pass to Erik Ezukanma. Philadelphia will need more patience when it comes to edge rusher Joshua Weru and defensive tackle Uar Bernard, who are products of the NFL’s International Player Program. Both made their pro debuts and held their own, all things considered. Weru even registered a QB pressure and a tackle.

Eagles 53-man roster projection, after the first preseason game – PhillyVoice
Quarterback (3): Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, Cole Payton. The Eagles feel likely to trade either McKee or Andy Dalton, with Dalton being to more likely candidate, though Howie Roseman will have to hope nobody watched the Eagles’ first preseason game. For now, I’ll project that Roseman will be able to get that done before 53-man cutdowns. However, I also believe that he’ll be willing to keep four quarterbacks at 53-man cutdowns if he doesn’t get any trade value for either guy.

Roob’s Instant Observations after a near-disastrous Eagles preseason opener – NBCSP
This was about as lifeless start as you could imagine for the Sean Mannion offense. Yeah, no starters. Yeah, first preseason game. Yeah, new scheme. And yeah, Payton’s efforts in the final minutes helped them avert an embarrassing shutout. Still, you’d like to see more than this. Even with this rag-tag collection of backups, practice squadders and NFL hangers-on, this just shouldn’t happen. Not this bad. I get that you’re vanilla and I get that you don’t want to show anything. But let’s at least try to look like a real NFL offense maybe? I don’t want to get too carried away. We’re still a month away from the regular-season opener, there are joint practices with the Patriots next week and two more preseason games and obviously none of the Eagles’ starters and most key backups were watching from the sideline. But not an auspicious debut for Mannion.

Eagles’ undersized center Willie Lampkin continues to impress in the preseason – PFT
Lampkin is tiny by NFL offensive lineman standards — something that was pointed out on the TV broadcast of the Eagles-Ravens game — but at some point, a player’s on-field performance has to matter more than his height and weight. Even if he’s shorter than 5-foot-11 and less than 280 pounds, Lampkin belongs in the NFL.

Young Eagles defender seemed like an afterthought. Now, ‘he’s gotten so much better’ – NJ.com
With 8:53 remaining in the first quarter Saturday night, Eagles defensive tackle Ty Robinson exploded off the ball and knocked down Ravens guard Emery Jones Jr.’s arm and brought down quarterback Tyler Huntley for a sack. Overall, the Eagles’ 24-7 loss to the Ravens in the first preseason game represented an ugly night, but Robinson’s performance was one of the few reasons Philadelphia can wake up feeling good today. After a rough start in the NFL, Robinson said the sack was a sign his hard work is paying off.

Eagles Locker Room Interviews: August 15, 2026 – PhiladelphiaEagles.com
Following the preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens, hear from Tanner McKee, Andy Dalton (6:02), Cole Payton (10:43), Uar Bernard (13:09), Willie Lampkin (14;05), Ty Robinson (15:41), Joshua Weru (18:13), and Eli Stowers (20:53).

Ravens’ rookie pass-catchers dazzle in preseason win over Eagles – Baltimore Beatdown
Jesse Minter notched his first win as the Baltimore Ravens’ head coach on Saturday night, taking down the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 24-7. “It was a great experience,” Minter said after the game. “I want to give a ton of credit to our coaching staff.” Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle led his unit to 440 yards and 31 first downs, dominating with long drives throughout the game and putting up lopsided time-of-possession and play-count numbers. On the other side of the ball, Minter and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver oversaw a near-shutout; the Eagles’ only points came with 2:24 left in the game after averaging just 4.0 yards per play and going 0-for-9 on third down.

Commanders vs. Dolphins preseason: Mark Tyler’s Studs and Duds – Hogs Haven
Johnny Newton: Playing with the starters, Newton looked anything but one! He was blown off the ball by Miami’s starting offensive line and looked slow and out of place. […] Julian (Not-so-)Good Jones: Washington’s starting center (by default), looked overwhelmed against the Dolphins defense. He showed a poor anchor in pass-pro and didn’t do a good job moving bodies or getting to the second level.

NY Giants QB Jaxson Dart ‘puzzled’ after yet another concussion test – Big Blue View
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart started the 2026 season in the most familiar way possible for Giants’ fans: A trip to the blue tent to be evaluated for a concussion, followed immediately by a touchdown on an improvised pass play. The headline of the day was the two-play sequence to end the first quarter and start the second. Dart took a massive hit on a 2nd-and-10 blitz from the Vikings when Dart failed to identify the blitzer and running back Tyrone Tracy failed to pick up the blitz.

3 underrated players on every NFL team’s roster in 2026 – SB Nation
Watching football is fun, right? Analyzing football is even funner! Or, to be grammatically correct, more fun! And the most fun I have when picking apart game tape and advanced metrics is finding those players whose efforts on the field far exceed their name recognition. When you find those Hidden Gems and broadcast their greatness to the world, it’s a nice feeling. I’ve been writing about underrated players for SB Nation for a while now — between the offseason Hidden Gems and the in-season Secret Superstars — and it’s time to get the Hidden Gems wrapped up for the 2026 NFL season. Especially as Week 1 of the preseason is underway, and a lot of these guys will be seen in that preseason, with hopes of gaining traction in a starting sense for their teams.

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