Doug Pederson said Friday defensive tackle Treyvon Hester is "definitely going to be asked to do a little bit more this week" against the Panthers.
Based on Hester's performance last week, that's a good thing.
The Eagles added the 26-year-old defensive tackle to their practice squad in early September and promoted him to the active roster less than a month later. With Haloti Ngata's lingering calf injury and Tim Jernigan's return in question, the Eagles are probably going to ask more of Hester going forward.
"Treyvon is an explosive player," defensive line coach Chris Wilson said. "He has some similarities to Tim Jernigan in regards to how twitchy he is on the backside. A lot of times, Fletcher Cox gets a lot of attention and [Hester] has the ability to win some 1-on-1s. We need that."
Although he played just 15 snaps in the game against the Giants, he showed more flashes than some other defensive tackles have shown all year. And he did it on back-to-back plays in the second quarter, when Cox was on the bench.
On this 1st-and-10, Hester got through Giants right guard Patrick Omameh and puts a hit on Eli Manning as Manning's pass goes incomplete.
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Then, on the very next snap, Hester made another play.
On this one, Hester gets through a double-team and takes down Saquon Barkley for no gain. It was one of just two of Barkley's runs that went for no gain Thursday.
"Just being able to go out there and play feels good," Hester said. "Anything I can do out there to help the team get a W, I'm just going to play my part."
Hester was a seventh-round pick by the Raiders in 2017 and actually played in 14 games and started one as a rookie. So it was probably a little humbling to come to Philly and have to wait for his turn while on the practice squad.
He used that time going against the Eagles' very talented offensive line. He worked to get them prepared for each game, which also helped him grow as a player while on the practice squad.
But now he has his chance. And the Eagles are counting on him to make the most of it.
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