What to Watch for During Eagles-Ravens

The Eagles and Ravens are a few hours away from kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field for Week 3 of the preseason.

The "tune up" game for the regular season is one with many elements to keep a close eye on.

Here are five things you may want to watch during the game.

First action for starters

It appears many starters will see their first action against Baltimore. Those starters include Jason Peters and DeSean Jackson.

Jackson is making his first in-game appearance with the Eagles since 2013. Perhaps a play-action bomb on the first play is in store?

Whether or not he will catch passes from Carson Wentz is to be determined.

Starters are expected to play through the first quarter.

Battle for starting LCB

With the return of Ronald Darby, there is just one starting job up for grabs at CB. Avonte Maddox will start in the slot, leaving Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas to battle for the left corner spot.

Jones has had a great summer, and his ceiling is higher than any CB on the roster. However, he will need to start making plays during games to hold off Douglas who has proven he can be a quality starter during the regular season.

The return of Jalen Mills could also shake things up. Jones and Douglas will need to convince Jim Schwartz not to put Mills back into the lineup.

Miles Sanders in the passing game 

Rookie RB Miles Sanders popped last week against Jacksonville breaking off multiple big plays in the run game.

His vision, burst, power, and elusiveness were on full display. One thing we have yet to see is his ability as a pass-catcher.

Sanders only had 24 receptions at Penn State but the limited opportunities he did get, on top of drills at the NFL Combine and training camp show he has the ability to be dangerous in the passing game.

It would be nice to see him get some looks against Baltimore through the air.

Defensive end battle continues 

It has been fascinating to follow the battle for the final two to three spots at defensive end.

 Josh Sweat, Shareef Miller, and Daeshon Hall have all impressed during the first two weeks of preseason action.

Hall especially who has 3 sacks against the Titans and Jaguars.

Newly acquired DE Eli Harold is also in the mix. A player who in his own right had 4 sacks during the 2018 season with Detroit.

How many edge rushers will the Eagles keep? The roster may only have enough room for two or three of the four.

The return of the return game 

The Eagles have not had a punt or kick return taken to the end zone since 2016.

2019 will feature a variety of explosive players who could break that dry-spell.

While Darren Sproles and DeSean Jackson won't be doing any returning during the preseason, Miles Sanders and Corey Clement could see some work at kick returner tonight.

Both running backs could be dangerous in that area. It will be interesting to see if they get opportunities against Baltimore.

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