Making Sense of the Eagles’ Inactives

The following Eagles are inactive for today’s game against the Redskins: QB Matt Barkley, WR Josh Huff, S Earl Wolff, OL Matt Tobin, OL Kevin Graf, LB Mychal Kendricks and DL Taylor Hart.

DeSean Jackson, who suffered a shoulder injury last week, is active for Washington.

There are two changes for the Eagles from last week. Wolff, who is dealing with a knee injury, won’t dress today. Taking his place in the defensive backfield will be rookie Jaylen Watkins. Watkins has been practicing at cornerback, but will presumably be an emergency option at safety. Chris Maragos will back up Malcolm Jenkins and Nate Allen with Wolff out.

The other change is that Kendricks is out and rookie Marcus Smith II is active. Kendricks suffered a calf injury during last week’s game. Smith practiced all week at inside linebacker. His role for today’s game is unclear. The first-round pick was active in Week 1, but did not play any snaps. He did not dress in Week 2.

Casey Matthews and Emmanuel Acho are expected to fill in for Kendricks.

On the offensive line, Dennis Kelly is expected to start at left guard and Andrew Gardner at right tackle. The two backups are David Molk and Wade Smith.

The Eagles’ three running backs are LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles and Chris Polk.

That means running back Chris Polk, who has been hampered by a hamstring injury, will dress. Polk was sidelined in Week 1. He’ll be the third running back behind LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles.The Eagles have five wide receivers active: Jeremy Maclin, Riley Cooper, Jordan Matthews, Brad Smith and Jeff Maehl. All four tight ends – Brent Celek, Zach Ertz, James Casey, Trey Burton – will dress.