Joshua Weru and Uar Bernard suited up for the Eagles on Saturday night. It was their first football game at any level.
The two International Player Pathway program products took another step in their remarkable journeys.
BALTIMORE — Before Saturday, Eagles edge rusher Joshua Weru hadn’t played a down of organized football. By the end of his first series, the ex-rugby player from Kenya already had had two quarterback pressures.
Talk about learning on the job.
It was a special night for Weru and Uar Bernard, the Eagles’ two International Player Pathway program rookies, who both suited up for game action for the first time when the Eagles fell to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, 24-7.
It was all smiles from both players after the game, but both recognize how much they have to learn.
“I started off on cloud nine, then I got brought back down” Weru said. “But that’s learning… It was cool. I felt a lot of ups and downs, but I’m just happy to have gone through it. I’m sure once I watch [film], I will learn a lot of things.”
Neither player lit up the stat sheet — the only stat they registered was Weru’s tackle and QB hit — but they certainly showed glimpses, which is what the Eagles were hoping for when they drafted Bernard in the seventh round (251st overall) and signed Weru as an undrafted free agent in April.
Their play drew praise from coach Nick Sirianni, who focused more on their journey to this point rather than dishing on their tape.
“How exciting for those two guys to be playing in an NFL football game,” Sirianni said. “It’s really cool how this game works out and the opportunities that they get. I just thought they played with really high effort and were into it the entire night. I think Josh had — I know there was a screen pass — but he looked pretty fast coming off the edge there on that one.
“I’ll have to study on Uar a little bit more. But to be able to come out here and play in an NFL game, it’s pretty cool and we’ll evaluate the tape and see where they were.”
On his first snap of the game, Bernard bull-rushed Ravens guard Emery Jones Jr. back five yards, using his impressive strength and 6-foot-4, 306-pound build to his advantage. He didn’t showcase many pass rush moves, but the play offered evidence that Bernard has NFL strength.
Weru made a clutch play during the second half, logging a hit on Ravens quarterback Joe Fagnano on third-and-9 and limiting his scramble attempt to just one yard in the fourth quarter. While the optimistic 23-year-old likes to focus on the positives, he said he’ll focus on what he can improve when he studies the tape after.
“I’m sure I’ll watch some plays and beat myself up about them,” Weru said.
This performance comes after weeks of solid play from the novice players in training camp. Weru has shown flashes of developing into a legitimate rotational edge rusher with his explosiveness off the ball and has a chance to win a roster spot. Bernard needs to work on his finesse, but his strength and size constantly turn heads in practice.
Even still, it’s clear the Eagles’ plan is to be patient with them. Two weeks ago, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio even instructed reporters to stop asking about them because they’re both “light years away.”
“It’s going to take a long while,” Fangio said at the time. “You guys can get off that topic.”