August 17, 2026

Game ball, three stars, and snap count analysis: Preseason Week 1, Eagles at Ravens

Going through the snap counts from Eagles-Ravens preseason opener and analyzing what they mean for each player.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Jamie Sabau/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Eagles QB Cole Payton made his pro debut in Saturday's preseason opener.

In their first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Philadelphia Eagles played just 44 snaps on offense and 80 on defense. Let's just get right to the snap counts, some notes, and some special recognition.

Quarterback

• 19 snaps: Tanner McKee

• 15 snaps: Cole Payton

• 10 snaps: Andy Dalton

Notes: Payton only got two series, but the offense actually picked up a few first downs when he was in there, so his snap counts were higher than Dalton's and just under McKee's.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from this game was how bad the offense looked for the first 3.5 quarters. To be fair, Nick Sirianni even admitted during a press conference a couple days before the game that the play calling was going to be extremely vanilla, but certainly it would be preferable to have seen a better performance.

Running back

• 16 snaps: Will Shipley

• 11 snaps: Ja'Quinden Jackson

• 10 snaps: Tank Bigsby

• 7 snaps: Carson Steele

Notes: Bigsby, Drew Kendall, and Fred Johnson all played 10 snaps (three series). I would put all three of those guys in the "veterans who are going to be on the roster but were just getting some work in" bucket.

Wide receiver

• 29 snaps: Darius Cooper

• 21 snaps: Quez Watkins

• 15 snaps: Samori Toure

• 14 snaps each: Erik Ezukanma, Danny Gray

• 12 snaps: Britain Covey

• 7 snaps: Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore

Notes: The Eagles decided that they wanted to get a long look at Cooper. He had 2 catches on 5 targets for 21 yards, and a drop. The Eagles didn't make Brown or Moore play for very long.

Tight end

• 19 snaps: Eli Stowers

• 15 snaps: E.J. Jenkins

• 12 snaps: Grant Calcaterra

• 11 snaps: Cameron Latu

Notes: Stowers looked in this game like he has looked throughout camp. Three short catches, questionable blocking, and not playing as fast as his measurables. It feels a lot like his mind is swimming, as a rookie, and a lack of explosion on the field is the result. At some point, the hope will be that he can think fast and play fast. But we're a ways away from that. I'd be surprised if he is active on gameday early in the season.

Offensive line

• 34 snaps each: Micah Morris, Jake Majors

• 29 snaps: Cameron Williams

• 23 snaps each: Willie Lampkin, John Ojukwu

• 21 snaps: Markel Bell, Myles Hinton, Michael Jordan

• 10 snaps: Drew Kendall

• 10 snaps: Fred Johnson

Notes: As noted above, it felt like the Eagles were getting Kendall and Johnson some quick work and then getting them out.

Bell had an encouraging first NFL game. All of his snaps, via @NFL_DF:

So did new fan favorite Lampkin. Highlights, via Fran Duffy:

The offense was brutal to watch, but the Eagles have to like what they saw from those two guys.

Edge defenders

• 45 snaps: Tarron Jackson

• 43 snaps: Jose Ramirez

• 30 snaps: Joshua Weru

• 22 snaps: Arnold Ebiketie

• 20 snaps: A.J. Epenesa

Notes: I have Epenesa over Ebiketie so far on the EDGE4 role.

Interior defensive line

• 47 snaps each: Ty Robinson, Zion Wilson

• 45 snaps: Gabe Hall

• 35 snaps: David Blay

• 15 snaps: Uar Bernard

• 12 snaps: Byron Young

Notes: Robinson had a sack, though it wasn't much of a block by whatever tomato can was playing at LG for the Ravens.

Bernard played his first football game... ever.

Young got some quick work in, and then was done for the night.

Linebacker

• 47 snaps: Smael Mondon

• 41 snaps: Deontae Lawson

• 37 snaps: Jeremiah Trotter

• 14 snaps each: Jihaad Campbell, Brandon George

Notes: It was a bit of a surprise to see Campbell get snaps in this game, especially when fellow draft class starter Andrew Mukuba didn't. My guess is that the team believes Mukuba is further along mentally than Campbell.