The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off their second Super Bowl championship since 2018, which puts a larger target on the team's back than fans have seen in quite some time.
With expectations high and the pressure to perform even higher, the Eagles cannot afford to make any mistakes when finalizing their 53-man roster that Philadelphia will carry into the regular season. This makes the importance of standing out when the opportunity presents itself as great as ever for the players further down the depth chart who aren't guaranteed a roster spot.
While things will undoubtedly change between now and the end of the preseason, one veteran participating in his third training camp with the Eagles needs to prove his worth now. Otherwise, his time in the City of Brotherly Love could be over.
Eagles CB Eli Ricks Will Say Goodbye to Philadelphia After Preseason
Eli Ricks has been with the defending champions for the past two seasons, making the roster despite facing uphill battles during each training camp. With the former Alabama Crimson Tide standout needing to have a special performance again this summer to cement his place on the 53-man roster, he needs to be at his best at all times. That just wasn't the case at all with Ricks' play in the preseason opener.
The Eagles got the best of the Cincinnati Bengals in their preseason opener. That was the good news. Unfortunately, there was also plenty of bad news. The defense gave up 27 points, which is something that cannot be the norm in Philadelphia this season.
Ricks had the opportunity to make a massive play that would have changed the feel of the matchup when he dropped an interception that would have likely been returned for a pick-six. As Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice.com noted, those are not drops you can afford to make when you're squarely on the roster bubble.
Reps are limited during the preseason, and Ricks only saw 25 snaps of action in Thursday night's victory over the Bengals. When you're only out there for that many plays, the lasting memory of your performance being a missed opportunity at an interception that could have been run back for a touchdown isn't what Ricks wants to be associated with his name.
If the veteran defensive back cannot right the ship moving forward, the likelihood of him cracking the roster in Philadelphia once again goes down immensely. Fans will find out soon enough just what direction Ricks heads in from here on out.