I don't want to kill JJ Arcega-Whiteside. He's a rookie playing in his first real NFL games, but the Eagles need more from him.
Without DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery against the Lions, Arecega-Whiteside played 55 snaps and had one catch for 10 yards on three targets. He also dropped an important deep ball late in the 27-24 loss.
In the last two games, Arcega-Whiteside has played 130 offensive snaps. He has two catches for 14 yards on seven targets. That's not getting it done.
To make matters worse, there are nine receivers drafted after Arcega-Whiteside in April who have more receptions and yards … and a few notable ones:
D.K. Metcalf: 9 rec, 217 yards, 1 TD
Diontae Johnson: 7, 94, 1
Terry McLaurin: 10, 187, 2
Hunter Renfrow: 9, 71, 0
Darius Slayton: 3, 82, 0
KeeSean Johnson: 9, 90, 0
We're just a few games into his NFL career, so I'm not writing him off. We're not calling him a bust. But it's also not unfair to expect more from him in a situation where the Eagles need more production.
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I singled out Arcega-Whiteside, but he's hardly the only Eagles player to play a lot and not give enough production. Even Mack Hollins, who had four catches for 62 yards, got called for a couple OPIs and dropped a ball in a crucial moment.
And then there was a real lack of production on the other side of the ball, which we'll get to soon.
More offensive notes
• Jason Peters (illness) left the game and returned much later. He finished with 59 snaps. Andre Dillard filled in at left tackle, but got just a few plays before he hurt his knee. In the middle of all that, Big V played 21 snaps.
• Zach Ertz has played every snap in back-to-back weeks. He played all 76 this week after playing all 81 last week. He's gonna be exhausted when the Eagles play in five days.
• Dallas Goedert (calf) was clearly not close to 100 percent. He didn't play until the second half and finished with just nine snaps.
• A pretty even split of running backs snaps, but an uneven workload:
Darren Sproles: 27 snaps (2 carries, 4 yards, 1 target)
Miles Sanders: 26 snaps (13 carries, 53 yards, two catches for 73 yards)
Jordan Howard: 25 snaps (11 carries, 37 yards, 1 target)
• Greg Ward and Matt Pryor made their NFL debuts. Ward played 2 offensive snaps and 13 on special teams. Pryor played 4 on special teams.
Offense
Brandon Brooks: 76 (100%)
Lane Johnson: 76 (100%)
Isaac Seumalo: 76 (100%)
Jason Kelce 76 (100%)
Carson Wentz: 76 (100%)
Zach Ertz: 76 (100%)
Mack Hollins: 75 (99%)
Nelson Agholor: 75 (99%)
Jason Peters: 59 (78%)
JJ Arcega-Whiteside: 55 (72%)
Darren Sproles: 27 (36%)
Miles Sanders: 26 (34%)
Jordan Howard: 25 (33%)
Halapoulivaati Vaitai: 21 (28%)
Dallas Goedert: 9 (12%)
Andre Dillard: 5 (7%)
Greg Ward: 2 (3%)
Alex Ellis: 1 (1%)
Defensive notes
• Carson Wentz had more tackles (2) than Fletcher Cox, Hassan Ridgeway, Vinny Curry and Josh Sweat combined in their 126 total snaps.
• Cox played 46 snaps and didn't show up on the stat sheet. At all. No tackles, sacks, QB hits, passed blocked, nothing. The Eagles' best player isn't himself right now and that's a serious concern.
• At corner, Ronald Darby played 23 snaps before he hurt his hamstring. Rasul Douglas (50 snaps) led the way for corners, followed by Sidney Jones (49) and Avonte Maddox (27). With a short week, the Eagles will probably need to either sign a corner or bring Craig James up from the practice squad. They had just four healthy CBs heading into the game Sunday.
• Nigel Bradham missed one defensive snap, so Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod are the only two Eagles' defensive players who haven't come off the field yet. This is nothing new for Jenkins, but it's noteworthy for McLeod, who missed most of last season with an ACL tear.
• Daeshon Hall was active but didn't get a single defensive snap. Not saying he's the answer to their problems, but the pass rush can't get there. Would it hurt to see if he could help?
Defense
Rodney McLeod: 64 (100%)
Malcolm Jenkins: 64 (100%)
Nigel Bradham: 63 (98%)
Brandon Graham: 55 (86%)
Zach Brown: 53 (83%)
Rasul Douglas: 50 (78%)
Sidney Jones: 49 (77%)
Fletcher Cox: 46 (72%)
Derek Barnett: 43 (67%)
Hassan Ridgeway: 38 (59%)
Akeem Spence: 37 (58%)
Avonte Maddox: 27 (42%)
Vinny Curry: 26 (41%)
Nate Gerry: 24 (38%)
Andrew Sendejo: 24 (38%)
Ronald Darby: 23 (36%)
Josh Sweat: 16 (25%)
Johnathan Cyprien: 1 (2%)
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