Eagles bring Alex Ellis back to the 53-man roster

The Philadelphia Eagles promoted practice squad tight end Alex Ellis to their 53-man roster and waived cornerback Craig James, according to an official announcement from the team.

This roster move is an undoing of what the Eagles did last week. The Eagles originally called up Ellis from the practice squad in Week 1 but Philadelphia then waived him so they could promote James ahead of Week 2.

The Eagles’ decision to go into their game against the Falcons with only two tight ends — Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert — burned them when Goedert aggravated a calf injury in pregame warmups. Goedert didn’t play a single snap and the Eagles had to scrap their 12 personnel sets since they only had one tight end to work with.

One could view the Eagles promoting Ellis as not a great sign for Goedert’s chances of playing this week. It could just be that the Eagles learned from their mistake, though, and are going to keep at least three tight ends on the 53 moving forward. That’d be the smart call.

By waiving James, the Eagles only have four healthy cornerbacks on their roster: Ronald Darby, Avonte Maddox, Sidney Jones, and Rasul Douglas. They do have five safeties on the team, however.

The Eagles opened up a spot on their practice squad by promoting Ellis. Assuming James clears waivers, he could be brought back.

Stay tuned for more potential roster moves coming down the pipeline. The Eagles have some decisions related to the injuries of DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, and Timmy Jernigan. Will the Eagles sign a wide receiver and/or a defensive tackle? We should find out prior to the team’s first Week 3 practice on Wednesday.

Current Eagles practice squad

CB Ajene Harris

QB Kyle Lauletta

RB Boston Scott

WR Marcus Green

WR Greg Ward

TE Joshua Perkins

OG Sua Opeta

DT Bruce Hector

LB Alex Singleton

[vacant spot]