Let’s see how former Eagles looked in Week 6 of the NFL regular season

Ugh, well the Eagles didn’t have the greatest day on Sunday, but there were a lot of other former players who also wound up on the losing side of things. It was a rough week for the Giants, but Golden Tate saw more action, and LeSean McCoy took a dip in production during the Chiefs loss. A pair of former defenders did get their first sacks of the season, though. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Let’s see how some former Eagles fared in Week 6:

Thursday Night Football

This week’s TNF game featured the New York Giants (Golden Tate) and New England Patriots (Michael Bennett), with the Tom Brady-led team coming out with the win.

It was a slow start for both teams, but then Giants QB Daniel Jones kept throwing interceptions and things got away from them quickly. The team was without there of their offensive starters (Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram) so Golden Tate saw more targets — which is something he took issue with in Week 5.

Tate was targeted on a long ball early on, but the Patriots defense got a hand on it and it fell incomplete. Shortly after that, he was targeted again, and despite bobbling it a bit, Tate was able to make the catch and take it to the end zone for the team’s first points of the day. Tate finished the day with 6 catches on 9 targets for 102 yards and one touchdown.

On the other sideline, defensive end Michael Bennett has seen his snap count reduced significantly over the past couple of weeks. The Patriots’ defense had a dominant performance on Thursday against the Giants, but Bennett only saw 11 total snaps, and only 3 prior to garbage time — for comparison, the DE was on the field for 55% of defensive snaps in Week 1.

Bennett was asked about the reduction in playing time, according the CBS Boston:

“I don’t know what’s happening,” the veteran told Greg Bedard of The Boston Sports Journal following Thursday’s win over the Giants. “You have to ask Bill. I wish I knew. If I had a better answer, I would tell you.

“You’ve got to ask them, man,” he continued. “I’m just trying to do what they ask me to do.”

So, while Bennett may have gotten the pay raise he was looking for this past offseason, he isn’t getting the playing time he likely would have had he stayed in Philly. There is also the possibility that the Patriots look to trade Bennett ahead of the deadline later this month.

Sacks on sacks on sacks

Linebacker Najee Goode has earned some snaps on defense with the Jaguars, after spending the first few weeks predominantly lining up on special teams. On Sunday against the Saints, Goode not only had 6 total tackles, but he also notched his first sack of the season.

Washington finally got their first win of the season against the Dolphins — so it doesn’t mean a whole lot. Former Eagles running back Wendell Smallwood had just one carry for 4 yards, but the reason for the Double Doink, DT Treyvon Hester, had his first sack as a member of his new NFC East team.

Other notables

The Texans ended up getting the win over the Chiefs on Sunday, 31-24, and running back LeSean McCoy had a much slower week with 8 carries for 44 yards. For Houston, DeAndre Carter had 1 kick return for 20 yards and 1 punt return for 10 yards.

The Cardinals won their second game of the 2019 season in a one-point victory over the Falcons. For Arizona, linebacker Jordan Hicks had 8 total tackles (over 50 so far this season) and position-mate Joe Walker had 2 total tackles of his own. On the other sideline, Kenjon Barner was back from injury for Atlanta, and had 3 punt returns for 17 total yards and 1 kick return for 24 yards.

Injuries, Inactives and Bye Weeks

• Four teams are on bye this week, including the Chicago Bears (Chase Daniel, Trey Burton), Buffalo Bills (Matt Barkley, Kurt Coleman), Indianapolis Colts (Josh Andrews), Oakland Raiders (Daryl Worley).
• Wide receiver Jordan Matthews was re-signed by the 49ers ahead of their Week 5 contest, but he was still listed as inactive this Sunday against the Rams.
• Brett Toth was, yet again, inactive for the Cardinals. The team was quick to pick him up off waivers after final roster cuts, but have yet to play the young tackle.
• De’Vante Bausby was on the receiving end of a big hit last week that ended in him being taken off the field on a backboard, and will keep him sidelined for awhile as he works to strengthen his neck muscles. He spoke earlier this week about how scary the situation really was, according to ESPN:

“I was never unconscious. I just couldn’t move, but I was still talking and everything. The doc, the neurologist said I was going to be fine and I just trusted that, and after about 30 minutes I was able to wiggle my toes and after a couple hours I was able to regain full mobility, so I was straight, I was fine. ... They said I was paralyzed for 30 minutes; after 30 minutes I could wiggle my toes and after two hours I could move everything else.’’

• Johnathan Cyprien was traded to the Falcons not long ago, and yet he has already landed on the team’s IR with an undisclosed injury. He missed the entire 2018 season with the Titans due to an ACL injury, so this is not good news for the safety looking to get back on the field. (Because of Cyprien going on IR, Atlanta went ahead and signed DJ White off the Eagles practice squad.)