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PHILADELPHIA — With Sunday’s initial cut to 53 looming, it’s worth revisiting Nick Sirianni’s comments before Tuesday’s scrimmage at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles head coach highlighted joint practices and operational sessions as the most useful evaluation tools available during the summer months.
Sirianni noted that the competitive environment in those styles of practices gives the staff a clearer picture of how players perform in environments that more closely resemble regular-season games.
Speaking ahead of a practice that had 45,000 fans in the stands at Lincoln Financial Field, Sirianni framed the session as another high-value opportunity rather than just another day of work.
“It’s just another great evaluation tool,” Sirianni said. “... Tonight’s a great evaluation piece for us.”
The Eagles treat all practices seriously, but things get elevated further on certain days, marked by a Red (low-intensity walkthroughs or recovery days intended to prevent soft-tissue injuries, particularly following spikes in workload or perceived high-risk windows during camp), Yellow (moderate-intensity sessions, often in shorts and shells), and Green (high-intensity sessions with competitive drills at full speed) charting method.
Sirianni explained that the coaching staff assigns formal game grades to not only the three preseason contests, but also to the two joint practices with New England earlier this month and every operational practice.
The Eagles had already completed one operational practice; Tuesday’s session marked the second, with at least one more scheduled.
“Obviously, you grade every practice, but we actually put a game grade on the three preseason games, put a game grade on the two joint practices,” he said. “We put a game grade on every one of our operational practices, which we’ve had one already. This is our second one. We’ll have another one coming up here soon.”
High-leverage evaluations
Eagles GM Howie Roseman (left) and coach Nick Sirianni kicked off Day 1 of training camp by meeting with reporters prior to practice. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI
By the time the preseason ends, that approach typically produces eight or nine game-grade evaluations.
Sirianni was careful to note that practices without an official game grade still matter, though.
“You come away with eight to nine, depending on how many operational practices or joint practices, you have eight to nine game grades from the preseason,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that the practices that aren’t graded as a particular grade don’t mean anything. No, everything’s evaluated, but we come away with about eight or nine of those at the end of the day.”
The emphasis reflects Sirianni’s belief in joint practices against another NFL team and operational practices that test communication, timing, situational awareness, and composure in ways ordinary training-camp sessions cannot fully replicate.
Those opportunities help coaches separate consistent performers from those who struggle when the environment changes.
For a roster still competing for final slots and an offense installing new concepts, the extra graded looks carry weight.
Sirianni, GM Howie Roseman and their staffs will use the collected game grades alongside daily practice evaluations as they finalize the 53-man roster and set early-season depth charts.
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