It was the third preseason game. There's a chance you'd see better football at a high school in South Jersey than the game played between the Eagles and Jets under Friday night lights at MetLife Stadium.
Not a ton happened with regard to the most pivotal position and roster battles, as looming decisions for the Eagles await this weekend with the deadline to cut from 90 to 53 men by Tuesday, But there were a few highlights.
After seeing Parry Nickerson make his first-quarter interception in the 19-17 win, I was glued to his football reference page. The cornerback has had a really crazy career. Which is why I am now rooting for him as hard as any fringe Eagles player. His stock is momentarily up. I also had to dig on Eagles receivers a bit after this pillow fight — they are the easy pick for stock down.
Take a look:
### Stock up: Parry Nickerson, CB 📈
Nickerson, 30, was a Jets sixth-round pick who was flagged for taunting after his first NFL tackle. He's been the very definition of a journeyman since then. Here's how his career has panned out after appearing in all 16 games as a rookie in 2018:
• Nickerson was traded to the Seahawks for a seventh-round pick. He was then released, signed to the practice squad and then released again.• He signed with the Jaguars where he, again, was released three times with a PS stint in the middle. He appeared in four games.• He signed with the Packers, who activated him just once.• He became a Viking and was signed and released (with PS appearances in the middle) three more times. He appeared in four games, making one tackle.• He was signed and released three more times (a pattern?) by the Dolphins, with whom he recorded five tackles in five games played.• He won a Super Bowl ring with the Eagles in 2024 as a member of their practice squad.
Friday night, he did everything he could to make a statement that he deserves what will likely be either another designation to the Eagles' practice squad, or maybe a job on someone else's 53-man roster.
Nickerson was shot out of a cannon starting at slot cornerback, making a pair of really impressive tackles early. Then he anticipated a Brady Cook pass and snatched it for a turnover that led to a field goal.
The transaction section of Nickerson's football reference page has the word "released" on it a ridiculous nine times, and "waived" four more. He's scratched and clawed his way to $3.6 million in career earnings for seven different NFL teams (via Spotrac). Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, whose cash total in 2025 is $42 million, will earn that in six quarters.
That's life in the NFL for you.
It would be easy to rag on third-string quarterback Kyle McCord for his pretty awful interception Friday — slinging an overthrown deep ball into double coverage for basically no reason.
But he actually did flash a little bit, making a few good throws throughout the game and leading a handful of scoring drives (most of them resulting in field goals). He's still finding his footing as a pro and the 2025 draft pick will likely remain with the Eagles after cuts are made last week.
He didn't get a lot of help in the game, and with at least five of his 20 incompletions coming due to ugly drops, we're going to pass some of the blame to the receivers in this one.
With [Johnny Wilson out for the year](/report-eagles-wr-johnny-wilson-done-season/), there is assumably a wide receiver spot wide open for the taking. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jahan Dotson are locks, and [recently acquired John Metchie](/john-metchie-iii-debuts-eagle-fits-naturally-other-bama-alums/) is probably the leader to be WR4 on the roster. The fifth spot could go to a variety of guys — though we should say one of the drops was from Metchie himself.
Darius Cooper and Ainias Smith, each top candidates to slide into that final spot, each had a drop as well. Smith is showing some value as a punt returner, and he flashed with a touchdown catch last week. Cooper is a camp darling who has a real chance of making the 53.
Elijah Cooks and E.J. Jenkins (a tight end) also had drops.
But the depth wide receivers really underachieved Friday. In addition to all the drops, wideouts combined to catch just 11 of 21 passes for 97 yards in the game. Sure, the quarterback play might not have been great, and the Eagles' backup offensive line isn't exactly a strong suit right now. But Jets second- and third-stringers should have offered Philly's receivers a real opportunity to break out.
It'll be interesting to see if the Eagles carry five or six receivers on Tuesday.