A week after they signed free agent Kenny Moore II to their practice squad, the Eagles on Tuesday signed the veteran defensive back to their active roster, filling an open spot on the 53-man unit.
Moore, 31, played nine seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, where Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was an assistant from 2018 to 2020. Moore has 111 starts in 132 career appearances and made the Pro Bowl in 2021.
It’s unclear how the Eagles plan to use Moore in their defensive backfield. He has played just 58 of 7,525 career defensive snaps at safety and has primarily been a nickel corner.
Vic Fangio last week said the Eagles did not have any plans to move nickel Cooper DeJean to safety on a full-time basis. DeJean has been playing safety in the team’s base package, but the position group has had a few concerning performances to open the 2026 season. Marcus Epps has missed multiple tackles and appeared to be benched during Monday night’s 27-7 loss in Chicago when the Eagles started rotating him and Michael Carter II next to Andrew Mukuba.
While Moore has not played a lot of safety, his acquisition likely means the Eagles think he’s capable of making the transition late in his career. Or at least trying to.
“Just being a football player,” Moore said last week when asked about his role. “I think in the back end, the more you can do the better. Being in year 10, I just want to pour everything that I’ve learned, resources, however way I can help, be a great teammate, and push those guys as best as possible.”
Asked last week about Moore’s role, Fangio said he wasn’t sure yet.
“I’ve never laid eyes on him, never watched him play,” he said. “So, we’ll see.”
Moore was released by the Colts in May after the Georgia native requested a trade and no deal came to fruition.
Jeff Scott, 72, formerly of Hilltown, Bucks County, longtime award-winning TV and video scriptwriter, director, and producer, former columnist and editor at the Quakertown Free Press, and green-thumb gardener, died Saturday, Sept. 19, of pulmonary fibrosis at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, N.J.
Born in Philadelphia, reared in Hilltown, and a graduate of Pennridge High School, Mr. Scott turned his lifelong interest in sports, affable collegiality, and writing, reporting, and editing skills into an award-winning career as a TV and print journalist that spanned more than four decades.
For 32 years, from 1983 to 2015, Mr. Scott wrote scripts, directed talent, and produced shows for TV, film, video, radio, and DVDs. He worked for Major League Baseball Productions through Phoenix Communications from 1988 to 2015 and wrote more than 1,000 TV show scripts for ABC, NBC, ESPN, Fox, and other networks, including 176 episodes of ESPN’s Major League Baseball Magazine and 450 consecutive episodes of the popular This Week in Baseball.
His dramatic scripts detailed many memorable baseball seasons, went behind the scenes with championship teams, and shared stories about star players on and off the field. They were narrated by iconic announcers such as Mel Allen, Curt Gowdy, Bob Costas, and Harry Kalas, featured thousands of players, coaches, and managers, and earned 16 New York Emmy Awards.
Mr. Scott earned 16 New York Emmys.Courtesy of the family
Former colleagues at MLB Communications posted a video tribute to Mr. Scott on X and noted his “indelible impact” on This Week in Baseball. Buzz Brainard, a former narrator for This Week in Baseball, said on Facebook: “Honored to bring his words to life every season for 11 years.”
Earlier, from 1983 to 1988 at the old Halcyon Days Productions, Mr. Scott wrote scripts for the weekly This is the USFL for ABC and other shows about John Madden, Mike Schmidt, and other sports and entertainment notables. Sports reporter Jayson Stark said on X: “You may not know the name, Jeff Scott. But you should.”
In print, Mr. Scott was a columnist and weekend magazine editor for the Free Press in the early 1980s. In the 1970s, he was sports editor and a features writer for the Perkasie News-Herald, and a part-time sports reporter for the Doylestown Intelligencer.
At the Free Press, he won awards and covered all kinds of local stories, including his publisher’s triple-bypass heart surgery. At the News-Herald, he wrote a sports column called “Time Out” and a news feature called “Know Your Community.”
To know Mr. Scott, a friend said, “was to like him.”Courtesy of the family
In 1976, he opened a News-Herald sports story with: “Some would call it luck. Some might call it breaks. And some might even consider the fact that somebody upstairs is carrying the fate of the Pennridge football team this year. We prefer to call it pure, unadulterated hustle.”
A former Pennridge baseball player said in a tribute: “It always was a big deal when he came to our games.” A former colleague at the Free Press said: “He made me feel important, and he made sure I knew that he was my friend.”
Other former colleagues praised Mr. Scott’s “sense of humor,” “warmth and kindness,” and “quick wit that never waned” in online tributes. “To know Jeff was to like him,” longtime friend and colleague Jim Burger said. “To know him well, which I had the good fortune to do, was to love him.”
Jeffrey Llewellyn Scott was born Nov. 18, 1953. He played street hockey in Hilltown and baseball at Pennridge, and attended what is now West Chester University.
Mr. Scott wrote a sports column in Perkasie in the 1970s.Newspapers.com
After college, he drove a truck, worked as a disc jockey, and traveled across the country. He married and divorced Lorrie Greenly and Amber Hudson.
He met Lenore Homeward on vacation in Tobago, and they married in 1991 and lived in Manhattan and Pittstown, N.J. He created seven flower beds on their property and tended many flower pots. “It was like a full-time job,” his wife said.
Mr. Scott enjoyed music and followed the Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, and Flyers. “He was a homebody,” his wife said.
His niece Shanice said: “My uncle Jeff had a big heart and meant the world to me.” A longtime friend said: “The world will be a less warm and kind place without him in it.”
Mr. Scott enjoyed time with his family.Courtesy of the family
His wife said: “He was loyal, funny, humble, and compassionate. He had the ability to see the better in people. He was friends with everybody.”
In addition to his wife and niece, Mr. Scott is survived by a sister, Kathleen, and other relatives. Three brothers and one sister died earlier.
Private celebrations of his life are to be held later.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday for the first time since leaving the Flyers’ preseason game Sept. 22 with an upper-body injury, goaltender Dan Vladař said he’s ready to go for Wednesday night’s season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7:30 p.m., TNT, HBO Max, and TruTV).
“Yeah, the whole training staff, especially [head athletic trainer Alex] Ambrose … obviously did an awesome job with me, so I owe him a couple bottles of wine for sure,” the netminder joked when asked if he was ready for Wednesday.
He said his mentality will remain “stop the first shot” and that he probably could have played Saturday in the final preseason game if needed. While Rick Tocchet would not confirm Vladař as Wednesday’s starter, the expectation is that he will man the home crease when the puck drops on the 2026-27 season.
But Vladař’s availability was very much in doubt just a week ago after the Czech netminder left the Flyers’ second preseason game in Boston. He was injured when Bruins forward Tanner Jeannot crashed into his outstretched arm while pursuing a rebound. Vladař immediately dropped his stick after the contact and looked to be favoring his right shoulder or arm. At the next whistle, he skated directly to the bench, talked briefly with the Flyers’ training staff, and then exited down the tunnel in noticeable pain.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet says the team dodged a bullet with goaltender Dan Vladař expected to return to the fold. Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
While the injury sent an immediate panic throughout Flyers Nation, Tocchet quelled fears the next day by saying that the Flyers looked to have “dodged a bullet” with their prized netminder. Vladař returned to practice in a full capacity Sunday and “looked good,” according to Tocchet.
“Someone is watching after me, I guess. It was close, but thank God it was nothing too crazy, so glad I can be here,” Vladař said Tuesday of the injury scare.
Having a healthy Vladař will be critical if the Flyers are to replicate or surpass last season’s run to the second round of the playoffs. In his first season in Philadelphia, he was the team’s unquestioned MVP, posting a 29-14-7 record and ranking in the top 10 in the league in goals-against average (2.42, third) and save percentage (.906, tied for eighth) among goalies to play 40 games. On the heels of his breakout season, the Flyers inked Vladař to a five-year, $27.5 million contract extension that will keep him in Philadelphia through the 2031-32 season.
The Flyers believe they have two starting-caliber goalies in Dan Vladař and Joseph Woll (pictured).Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Vladař isn’t concerned with the pressure of increased expectations entering the 2026-27 season.
“Obviously, you cannot really be listening to the outside noise, whether it’s good or bad. We just got to know what’s in here and focus on ourselves,” he said. “And for me, it’s focusing on me and helping my players, my buddies, [and] my teammates. … Nothing’s changing for us in that way. We’re one year older, maybe one year wiser. So hopefully we’re going to show it on the ice.”
With the Flyers playing back-to-back games to open the season, Vladař and new backup Joseph Woll are expected to split the two games.
Following a season where the Flyers largely struggled on nights Vladař didn’t play, the team made it a priority to upgrade the backup position. In acquiring Woll from Toronto, they did just that, as Woll boasts a .906 career save percentage and quality experience as a starter.
Inquirer writer Jackie Spiegel contributed to the reporting for this article.
The Eagles suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of third-stringer Case Keenum and the Chicago Bears in the Windy City.
After a game that saw the Eagles struggle on both sides of the ball, most of the discourse surrounding the team has been centered around concerns over their safeties, the play calling, and ultimately who’s to blame.
Here’s everything they’re saying about the Birds following their Week 3 loss on the road:
‘They got beat up’
The Bears put together an 11-play, 66-yard opening drive to score to start the game. From that moment they continued to bully the Birds on prime time.
“This was a team loss; they got beat up,” said Jeff Saturday on ESPN’s First Take. “When you saw how the defense was playing and how they were responding, and to your point about Case Keenum, it was like he had the answers to all the test questions and had printed them out.
“Here’s the thing about the bad sign for the Eagles: they had four designed runs in the second half. Are we serious? Did y’all see the holes that Saquon Barkley had at the beginning of the game? You and I could have [run] through them and got five to six yards. It was unbelievable, and they went totally away from it.”
Keenum, the Bears’ third-string quarterback, looked like a stud against the Eagles defense. The 38-year-old QB, who hadn’t started a game since Christmas Eve in 2023, was 24 of 34 for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
“The Eagles got exposed in what we already knew their weaknesses are,” said former Eagles linebacker Emmanuel Acho on The Speakeasy podcast. “At safety, who the [expletive] is going to step up and play? [Andrew] Mukuba hasn’t been good enough. Then you try to throw in Michael Carter II, hasn’t been good enough. So, at safety, who the [expletive] is going to step up and play?
“This isn’t just a bad game, this is a bad sign because against the Tennessee Titans, we saw these issues as well. We saw bad tackling issues against the Commanders. … We saw the signs. It’s no longer just a bad game. These signs have existed week after week after week. Is it just one loss? Absolutely. But you better tidy things up quickly or one loss will become a domino effect into multiple losses.”
"The Eagles got EXPOSED with weaknesses we've already known about! They better tidy things up in Philadelphia"
– @EmmanuelAcho credits the Bears for exposing the Eagles' weaknesses that have been apparent all season
The Eagles offense didn’t do anything to offset their defensive performance. They turned the ball over three times, including a Tank Bigsby fumble and two interceptions. Not to mention, penalties plagued the team early, including an intentional grounding call on Hurts on the opening drive.
“The Eagles looked bad,” said Shannon Sharpe on the Nightcap Show. “Unless that defense reverts back, unless Saquon can start running through people again, and the offensive line starts blocking like they were then, I don’t see it again. Yeah, you can win some games. But, you’re not winning a championship again with this offense like this. This offense is just too lethargic. It does nothing. No creativity.
“They need to really unleash Hurts and let him throw the football. … I think [Hurts] is a good quarterback. I think the thing is in order for him to get better, he’s going to have to play off script and they’re going to have to expand the playbook. This offense is just too simplistic to really do anything. Either you trust him or you don’t.”
The Bears embarrass the Eagles with backup QB Case Keenum. Unc unleashes on the Eagles offense and calls them "lethargic"
To former NFL linebacker Manti Te’o, there’s a few people that can have the finger pointed at them.
“Who do we blame for the struggles, is it Sean Mannion or is it Jalen Hurts? And it’s a little bit of both,” said Te’o on Good Morning Football. “It’s going to take some time. Now, I don’t know how much time the Eagles have knowing the division that they’re in and knowing the conference in the NFC that they’re in.
“I hope that there is some trust between the coordinator, the head coach, the quarterback, and the rest of the offense because there is too much talent on that team for them to be the only team in the NFL that has yet to score in the first quarter of a game.”
“Sean Mannion, in my opinion, has the most to do with this.”
It didn’t take long for Porter Martone to win over Flyers fans. The initial excitement that surrounded him being picked sixth overall by the Flyers in the 2025 NHL draft snowballed after his NHL debut on March 31, and impressive run through the playoffs.
On the eve of the Flyers’ season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the right winger is further establishing himself as a player Philly fans are going to want to root for.
In an article for the Players Tribune published Tuesday, Martone wrote about his journey from being a kid in Peterborough, Ontario, who hung every medal he won on the pegs of hockey sticks on his wall, to the Flyers’ rookie star. And the 19-year-old forward said everything Philly fans would want to hear.
Well … almost everything.
“I loved Sid,” Martone wrote of Sidney Crosby, who has been the Penguins’ captain for nearly two decades. “I mean, c’mon. Can you blame me? As a Canadian … you gotta love Sid.”
Other than that, Martone wrote about playing in the Keystone rivalry against Crosby, the playoff environment, and the passion of Philly sports fans.
Martone would know. Despite growing up hundreds of miles away, Martone grew up a Flyers fan, a label for which he gained a new understanding for since becoming a Flyer.
“This is just a city of winners,” Martone wrote. “I love it. People who hate to lose, who feel sick to their stomach when they lose. Those are my people. I felt all of that when I joined the team last spring before the playoffs started.”
Porter Martone tossed the puck to a 16-year-old goalie after his first goal. 🏒
— Philadelphia Inquirer Sports (@phillysport) April 8, 2026
During a “whirlwind” year that took him from Michigan State to the Flyers and into two rounds of the playoffs, Martone moved in with teammate Trevor Zegras, along with Denver Barkey, and Christian Dvorak.
Martone was complimentary of his teammates but wrote specifically about captain Sean Couturier, whom he called “an incredible leader.” He highlighted Couturier’s ability to command the locker room’s attention when speaking, and then proceeding to get on the ice and play “the game the way it’s meant to be played.” He even compared Couturier to previous Flyers captain Claude Giroux for his ability to connect to the fans and the city.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet also received praise from Martone for being a “huge help” to him because of his ability to relate to his players, thanks to his own experience in the NHL.
While Martone’s NHL career is still getting started, he’s already had some major moments in the nine regular-season and 10 playoff contests in which he’s played. For Martone, leading the first-round series against the Penguins two games to none and hosting Game 3 was “the coolest experience of his life.”
His only regrets were not getting to try any Philly cheesesteaks amid the hectic season, and the way the season ended, after the Flyers were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
Martone said his father would always tell him to never be complacent, so while things were good, he promised fans he’s “got so much more to give” and to become as a Flyer.
“When I stepped on the ice for the first time as a Flyer, I reminded myself to be where my feet are. I don’t take it for granted. It’s awesome,” Martone wrote. “And those sticks back home on my bedroom wall? I just checked with my mom. We got plenty of pegs left. See ya out there, Philly.”
Neither the NFL nor Brian Dawkins gave President Donald Trump’s administration approval to post game footage of the former Eagles player on social media. But the Department of Homeland Security posted a montage of Dawkins to promote its immigration policies anyway.
The NFL asked DHS on Monday to take down the post, in which the agency responds to news about immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border with a video of an edited NFL broadcast featuring Dawkins’ iconic walkout entrance. The video uses copyrighted NFL material and Dawkins’ likeness, and the band Korn’s “Blind” can be heard in the background.
When asked if DHS would comply with the request, a department spokesperson responded with a meme photo of Bugs Bunny saying, “no,” posted to social media by DHS general counsel James Percival.
But is the government allowed to use copyrighted material without permission? In the case of the Dawkins video, it likely can, said Guy Rub, a Temple University law professor and intellectual property expert, who said the NFL footage and Dawkins’ likeness could fall under “fair use.”
Under the fair use doctrine, copyrighted material can be used without permission when the material is used in a “transformative” way to add new meaning or messaging, Rub said.
“There is a pretty good argument to say that this is transformative use. It takes the underlying footage and uses it for a new purpose — it’s not trying to compete with the NFL when they posted it. They are giving it new meaning, a new context under this framework,” Rub said, who noted he did not endorse the Trump administration’s messaging.
A major factor in fair use is whether the copyrighted material is being reused to make money. DHS was tying the footage to political speech, which is protected under the First Amendment, Rub said. It just happens that the government was the one making the political statement in this case.
The Dawkins dustup is the latest controversy in the Trump administration’s use of copyrighted material in its meme-centric, Gen Z-inspired postings on social media, often deploying beloved cartoon characters and pop music to amplify Trump campaign slogans or immigration messaging.
Trump has drawn the ire of musicians for years for using music in videos and campaign events without permission since the 2016 election. But in his second term, Trump’s federal agencies have opened the floodgates with their takes on pop culture references.
So much so that companies like the one behind Pokémon, the hit children’s anime and video games, objected to the White House’s use of its cartoon creatures. Musicians from Tom Petty (through his estate) to Sabrina Carpenter have requested the removal of their songs from posts.
It can be hard to enforce these rules on the federal government, Rub said, but some do succeed, as was the case with the firm that owns the rights to Vince Guaraldi’s “O Tannenbaum” from A Charlie Brown Christmas, which settled with the Trump administration for $20,000 for a copyright violation.
However, collecting money, called “damages,” is the only recourse. Courts cannot force an injunction on the federal government, due in part to “sovereign immunity” — the government cannot be sued in its own court without consenting to it, Rub said.
The NFL is likely not looking for damages in the DHS case, as it would be a very small sum for the 30 seconds of NFL footage repurposed for the meme, Rub said. But Dawkins might have a stronger case for “false endorsement,” as the post could be taken to mean Dawkins supports the Trump administration’s messaging. Still, Rub said, false endorsement protections are usually applied only to those whose likeness or trademark has been used commercially. The DHS post would likely fall under noncommercial political speech.
“It’s part of the U.S.’s commitment to free speech,” Rub said. ”Free speech sometimes helps causes that you like, and sometimes it’s ones that you don’t. That’s part of free speech.”
Kensington Voice — the independent, nonprofit newsroom and community hub covering the lower Northeast and North Philadelphia — has ceased publication.
“Kensington Voice has run out of money needed to pay our staff,” said Jillian Bauer-Reese, cofounder of Kensington Voice in a letter to readers published Monday.
The outlet’s website, which provided news, guides, community-authored opinions, and neighborhood resources created with community reporting, has been largely dormant for months.
“We should have shared this update sooner,” Bauer-Reese explained. “We stayed quiet while we worked through what would happen next, and that process has taken much longer than we expected.”
The hub is working with partners to preserve Kensington Voice’s work and resources, Bauer-Reese said, and to continue any ongoing projects where possible. The small news organization’s archives will stay online. Staff members — the hub employed six to eight journalists at its peak — had been laid off during the weeks and months leading to the announcement.
Funding for Kensington Voice — which operates with nonprofit status through a fiscal sponsor, Movement Alliance Project — had been a challenge for the last two years, Bauer-Reese wrote on the site.
“Thank you to everyone who read our work, shared it, trusted us with their time and their stories, corrected us, and helped make Kensington Voice what it has been,” she said.
News by and for residents
Serving the neighborhoods of Kensington, Fairhill, Harrowgate, Norris Square, and Port Richmond, Kensington Voice aimed to be something new when it was founded by Bauer-Reese and more than a half-dozen of her journalism students. Its communal reporting on the opioid overdose epidemic, housing, homelessness, poverty, and quality of life considered solutions to issues of inequality that have plagued North Philadelphia communities for decades.
As the neighborhood seemed to suffer worse than ever from the grip of drugs and violence, Kensington Voice became an advocate for a community often overlooked — and stigmatized. Like when a 2018 New York Times Magazine story famously referred to the languishing community as the “Walmart of Heroin.”
“The idea for Kensington Voice came from a hunch I had that in a neighborhood often at the center of our national news media’s drug and addiction journalism, the news and information needs of the community itself weren’t being met,” she had said in 2019.
A Kensington Voice meet-and-greet in October 2018 at Impact Services. The event brought together community partners to talk about ideas for news coverage of the area.Handout
Within months, Bauer-Reese and her students operated a rotating pop-up community newsroom, run out of libraries, rec centers, and on street corners, and putting community voices foremost. At these pop-up stations, residents submitted story ideas and built storytelling bridges, where the realities and solutions of the community-led reporting. Reporters would meet residents at tables. Some residents published their own stories.
“The more I work in the community, the more I realize how the work of journalists impacts those who live and work there,” Bauer-Reese said in 2019.
During the peak of the opioid overdose crisis in Philadelphia in 2022, when more than 1,400 people died in Philadelphia from drugs, the Kensington Voice relied on shoe-leather reporting from the front lines to draw attention to the city’s struggling response.
The newsroom shared empowering first-person narratives from people in addiction building new lives, young mothers navigating complex support services systems, and the writings and art of gifted local high school students.
“I look up at that blue sky and wonder how much longer will it be blue until it is filled with smog,” wrote 16-year-old Kensington student Jazielys Serrano in a 2024 poem published through the hub’s Youth Voices Program.
Amid the challenges of reporting on the largest open-air drug market on the East Coast, Kensington Voice’s coverage received criticism as being too sympathetic to people who use drugs.
That was the point, Bauer-Reese explained. Flipping the lens so the most vulnerable had a chance to be heard.
“By being a part of the Kensington community and helping neighbors share their own voices, we hope to shed a new light on this community,” Bauer-Reese said in 2019.
Fading funding
Staffed by reporters, photojournalists, and editors at its peak, Kensington Voice began to leak funding as attention slowly began to fade from the neighborhood.
Before going dormant in the spring, the outlet published reports about medical mobile service bans in Kensington, police brutality, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s affordable housing plan, and plans to renovate Kensington’s embattled McPherson Square. The newsroom detailed community members’ heightened anxiety over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in North Philadelphia. It also published guides helping citizens connect with vital public resources, like information on how to report illegal dumping and abandoned cars, and where to find jobs, housing, and health support.
The work — and the relationships — will live on, Bauer-Reese wrote.
“What this community built with Kensington Voice doesn’t end here,” he said.
The Trump administration has dropped its plans to build an immigrant-detention center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in South Jersey, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
The office said that in October, after the opening of an ICE detention site at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, Pentagon officials said they “no longer plan to build detention facilities on other military installations.”
Specifically, the report said, Defense Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials “told us that they did not move forward with plans for facilities in Indiana and New Jersey.”
More than a year ago, in July 2025, the administration confirmed plans to house detainees at the South Jersey base as a way to support President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.
Specific details were not released, and as time went on it was unclear if planning had gone forward.
In November 2025, local Democratic elected officials said they had received a letter from the administration saying there was currently no approved construction plan, nor a timeline, for confining people at the base.
U.S. Reps. Donald Norcross and Herb Conaway, both New Jersey Democrats and members of the House Armed Services Committee, requested more information about the administration’s plans from the Department of Homeland Security.
The administration’s response said the government’s need for more detention space “reflects the Trump administration’s commitment to restoring the rule of law and ending the catch-and-release policies of prior years that jeopardized American communities.”
The base had been named as one of two sites certified to hold immigrants, the other being Camp Atterbury in Indiana.
The report by the GAO, a nonpartisan, investigative arm of Congress, said ICE had begun new detention initiatives before developing a plan for expansion, resulting in waste. Since January 2025, ICE had invested significant resources in six new initiatives to increase detention capacity, but by July 2026 had scaled back four of them, the GAO said.
After the Eagles’ first loss of the season came on Monday night in a 27-7 rout by a Caleb Williams-less Chicago Bears, they were also hit by a boost in opinions from the national media heading into Week 4.
Issues on both sides of the ball on Monday contributed to the Birds’ loss and, in turn, their slip across multiple rankings.
Here’s where the Eagles stand in the rankings across multiple outlets.
ESPN: Eighth
The Eagles only slipped two spots in ESPN’s rankings, going from sixth to eighth after the loss.
Tim McManus’ silver lining was wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks, who has ascended into the second spot behind DeVonta Smith.
“Wicks has the second-most receptions (nine) and receiving yards (179) on the team behind DeVonta Smith,” McManus said. “In the meantime, Wicks and QB Jalen Hurts have developed a comfort level with one another, particularly in high-leverage moments.”
A highlight of the Eagles’ loss was wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks, according to ESPN. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Bleacher Report: Ninth
Bleacher Report also had the Eagles staying in the top 10, but moving out of the top five after sitting at fifth last week, and moving to ninth ahead of Week 4, citing issues with the Eagles’ pass coverage and secondary.
“After slim-margin victories against the Washington Commanders and the winless Tennessee Titans, skeptics may not think much of Philadelphia’s 2-1 record,” Maurice Moton said. “Based on the Eagles’ mistake-ridden Monday night performance, it’s fair to question whether they can stack up against playoff-caliber opponents.”
Video: Should Nick Sirianni have gone for it on a critical 4th down call?
The Athletic: 13th
Cracking the top 10 last week at number nine, the Eagles moved down to 13 in Josh Kendall and Chad Graff’s weekly power rankings.
The main reason was a hit to their confidence in Jalen Hurts, who finished 16-of-25 with an interception and no touchdowns.
“Hurts couldn’t get anything going Monday night against a Bears defense that gave up 361 yards to Bryce Young just two weeks ago,” Kendall and Graff said. “Still, Monday was just his second loss in his last seven starts.”
Pundits are chiding Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts for losing to a Bears defense that gave up 361 yards a week prior. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
NFL.com: 15th
Going from 10 to 15, Nick Shook said the Eagles “failed their first real test” of the season in a manner so disappointing, featuring struggles from Hurts and missed opportunities, while Case Keenum had himself a game as backup quarterback.
“The Eagles’ offensive evolution under Sean Mannion hasn’t yet taken flight (Hurts didn’t help with that much Monday night), and right now, I’m not exactly sure how to feel about this team,” Shook said. “Philly should be good, but through three weeks, it has logged two narrow wins over teams it’s expected to beat, and lost a lopsided game on the road. Not great, Nick (Sirianni)!”
Falling out of the top 10, from nine last week to 14th heading into their game against the Rams, Frank Schwab at Yahoo! Sports said Monday night’s loss may have “exposed” the Eagles after their “shaky” first two weeks.
“The Eagles will probably be a good team. They’re also pretty close to being 0-3 to start this season,” Schwab said. “There is a lot that needs to be fixed for the Eagles to get anywhere near an elite level.”
Three weeks after Temple’s season-opening win, the Owls find themselves on a three-game losing streak.
The last two stung the most. The Owls fell at Toledo in overtime after leading by 14 and then lost to Army on the final drive. Now, Temple (1-3, 0-1 American Conference) goes back on the road to face South Florida (4-0, 1-0) on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPNU).
The Owls have been plagued with late-game breakdowns. But the chance to prove themselves and put those losses behind them excites coach K.C. Keeler.
“The bad news is, we have to go play South Florida coming off a brutal loss like this,” Keeler said. “The good news is, we get a chance to go play South Florida after a brutal loss like this, because the only thing that gets you right is getting out there and beating a good football team.”
The Owls’ running back group is headlined by Sam Brown V, whose three touchdowns against the Rockets was tied for second-most in a game in the conference. Temple is ranked 24th nationally in rushing. Keveun Mason ran for a career-high 158 yards in Week 1.
South Florida’s D.J. Crowther has displayed impressive figures as well, having topped 100 rushing yards in each of the last two games. Crowther averaged 12.6 yards per carry (eight carries for 101 yards and three touchdowns) in the first contest vs. Delaware State before carrying the ball 23 times for 143 yards and a TD in the second vs. Bowling Green.
Sam Brown V runs the ball during the first quarter against Army Black on Sept. 25.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
Keeler knows how strong the Bulls’ ground game is, and his staff usually reviews rushing footage from the week before to prepare. But that wasn’t a focus in practice Monday, simply because Army was a different beast.
“Typically today would be a corrections day for [the defense] — they sort of moved on,” Keeler said. “After an Army or Navy game, you don’t get a lot out of that video … there’s not a lot of crossover for what would help today.”
Sheppard still in shotgun
Jaxon Smolik started as Temple’s signal-caller against Penn State and Toledo after splitting the job with Ajani Sheppard against Rhode Island. When Smolik went down with an injury after his first throw against the Rockets, Sheppard stepped in and recorded three touchdowns. He continued to impress with 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns against Army.
Keeler is impressed by what he’s seen in Sheppard’s deep passing and explosiveness. Sheppard may get to showcase his talents in Tampa, Fla., as Smolik’s health is still in question.
“I really haven’t talked to Tyler [Walker] because we’re kind of waiting for someone to say Jaxon is 100%. I don’t think we’re there yet,” Keeler said. “I think he’ll progress this week, but I think we’ll know a lot more during the course of the week than we know right now.”
Fine-tuning details
Keeler has drilled one word into the minds of his players: details.
Temple hasn’t lacked energy through the past three weeks, but its failure to execute in the final minute has cost them games. The Owls weren’t far from being 3-1, Keeler said.
Special teams coordinator Brian Ginn and head coach K.C. Keeler yells against Army on Sept. 25.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer
This weekend, however, Temple can’t afford to leave any boxes unchecked.
“I can’t ask them to work any harder in practice, except the mental part of it,” Keeler said. “We better really look ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘Are we doing everything we can? Is it looking at your tip sheet? Is it watching an extra video?’ … Let’s really worry about those details.”
