Eagles name initial 13-player practice squad, including international prospects Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru
The Eagles are also reportedly adding tackle Kiran Amegadjie, according to ESPN.
Howie Roseman’s calculated risk paid off.
Both members of the Eagles from the International Player Pathway — Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru — cleared waivers on Monday and later signed with the Eagles’ practice squad.
Bernard and Weru occupy two spots on the 13-player practice squad the team announced Monday afternoon. The Eagles will be allowed to keep 17 players on the practice unit instead of the normal 16 since they’ll be able to designate one of them as an IPP player.
Bernard was designated as their IPP player during camp, and the Eagles will have to determine which of the two players to designate on the practice squad. According to the league’s website: “IPP players signed to a practice squad using the exemption may not be signed to any team’s active roster that season; however, players signed to a practice squad without the exemption are treated in the same way as other practice squad players for roster purposes.”
Roseman stressed what Vic Fangio said earlier in training camp, that all of this is new to both players and they need more time to develop.
“From our perspective, development is real,” he said. “These guys have tremendous ability to be developed. They want to be developed. They have tools in their body. They have great character.”
There was a thought process involved in placing them on waivers, of course, one that included some necessary context.
“We put a lot of time and effort during this week,” Roseman said. “Not only looking into what’s going to be out there, but by taking snapshots of what other teams are seeing in our guys and saying, ‘They don’t have the practices, they don’t have the individual periods, they don’t have these guys in the meeting rooms.’
“Still very excited about them, really glad that they did get through, certainly wasn’t certain about that.”
The initial practice squad the Eagles announced:
DT Uar Bernard
LB Chance Campbell
WR Britain Covey
DT Gabe Hall
OLB Keyshawn James-Newby
C/G Jake Majors
T John Ojukwu
RB Dameon Pierce
S Maximus Pulley
OLB Mason Reiger
RB Carson Steele
OLB Joshua Weru
S Cole Wisniewski
The Eagles are also reportedly adding tackle Kiran Amegadjie, according to ESPN. The Chicago Bears drafted Amegadjie in the third round in 2024. He has six games of experience under his belt. Amegadjie would be one of two players from outside the organization who are on the practice squad, joining Reiger, who signed with Miami as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin.
Amegadjie would make 14 players on the practice squad, leaving the Eagles with three openings once they designate an IPP player.
The Eagles, who were not awarded any players on waivers Monday, lost four players to waiver claims, more than any other team. The following players were claimed:
Cameron Williams (Atlanta)
Myles Hinton (Cincinnati)
Kapena Gushiken (Indianapolis)
Cameron Latu (New England)
Additionally, safety Andre Sam, who suffered a left leg injury during the preseason finale Friday night, cleared waivers and reverted to injured reserve.
The Eagles’ first-stringers get little to no action in exhibition games, annual joint practices with other teams become one of the few opportunities for starters to get preseason reps of consequence. This year, the Eagles traveled to New England for two days of live workouts with the Patriots. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Boston Sports Journal’s Greg A. Bedard recap what they saw, and explain why, even after the joint practices, the Eagles still haven’t shown much of an identity. Listen here.
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