The Philadelphia Eagles will activate two players for Monday night's showdown against the Chicago Bears , one is a franchise legend.
Zach Ertz will officially make his return for the Eagles against the Chicago Bears, 1,809 days since he was traded by the franchise. Ertz is one of two practice squad elevations by the Eagles this week, as linebacker Chance Campbell will also be elevated for the game.
The big elevation was Ertz, which was expected based on how his week of practice went. The Eagles are also very thin at tight end and need Ertz to play -- along with being the TE1.
Ertz is expected to start for the Eagles tonight in his return. So why is he on the practice squad right now?
The Eagles don't have to activate him to the active roster yet. Ertz gets up to three elevations on the practice squad before the Eagles have to make a decision to put him on the 53-man roster or let him remain on the practice squad. There's an extra roster spot on the 53, but Ertz will be on the active roster at some point.
This is a product of the benefits of roster construction under the current CBA. The Eagles don't have to put Ertz on the 53 yet.
This is the first time this season the Eagles decided to have a second practice squad call up (teams get a maximum of two per week). The Eagles could have used this spot for cornerback/safety Kenny Moore, who is on the practice squad and was signed this week.
Instead the Eagles brought up Chance Campbell, a player Vic Fangio liked in training camp and endorsed on the 53-man roster. This will be Campbell's season debut with the Eagles.
Why did the Eagles bring up Campbell? Philadelphia lost Maximus Pulley to the Los Angeles Rams ' active roster this week and pully played on special teams. There's an opportunity for Campbell to play on special teams, mainly in kickoff coverage (Pulley played six snaps last week).
Campbell would likely take that spot.
Moore likely isn't ready to contribute, whether that's in football shape or understanding the terminology of the defense. It shouldn't take long for Moore to ramp up, but he'll need another week or two before emerging in the safety competition.
Michael Carter is expected to receive more snaps as Marcus Epps is under pressure to retain his starting job. The Eagles are looking at options at safety, starting with Carter and signing Moore.
Here have been the 2026 practice squad elevations by weeK:
Week 1-- Britain Covey
Week 2-- Maximus Pulley
Week 3-- Zach Ertz, Chance Campbell
Covey is currently on the active roster and Pulley is currently on the Rams active roster. If Covey were to revert back to the practice squad, he has two options remaining.
Ertz and Campbell both have two options remaining. The rest of the practice squad have not been elevated to the active roster for game day.
The Eagles will have WR Marquise Brown , T Fred Johnson , and TE Dallas Goedert out this week. Since the Eagles have 52 players on the active roster, two players will be ruled inactive for the game.
Normally 47 players are active and permitted to dress for the game, 48 if the Eagles carry eight offensive linemen -- which they have done the first two weeks.
The Eagles are expected to keep the third quarterback inactive, which is Tanner McKee ( Andy Dalton is the backup). The Eagles could decided to make Micah Morris active for a 48th player on the active roster or keep him inactive and use 47 players.
That would leave Elijah Moore active and he could make his debut. Moore was inactive the first two weeks, but Hollywood Brown is out for Week 3.
Let's see what the Eagles do.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi as Eagles Make Two Practice Squad Elevations for Week 3 -- Including Zach Ertz .
