The most-anticipated week of Philadelphia Eagles training camp included two practices against the New England Patriots. With those sessions behind the team, the season creeps closer. It’s the point of the summer when roster battles take shape and concern about injuries lingering into the regular season becomes real.Zach Berman and Brooks Kubena answered their weekly six pressing questions surrounding the Eagles:1. Do you feel better or worse about the Eagles’ offense after joint practices?Kubena: Worse. The first-team unit needed to show it can consistently move the ball after the reserves played poorly in Saturday’s preseason opener. But the run game’s success was inconsistent across both days against the Patriots. Elijah Moore caught a deep touchdown in Wednesday’s team drills, but explosive passing plays have been few and far between in training camp. Dontayvion Wicks showed impressive separation in one-on-one drills, but it didn’t translate into major plays during red zone and two-minute drills. Of course, DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon have missed over two weeks of practice with hamstring injuries. The Eagles need them healthy.Berman: About the same, but if I had to give you a lean, I’d say slightly worse. There have been joint practices during the past decade when the Eagles were the superior team. That was not the case this week, but the context is that the Patriots are the defending AFC champions with a season win over/under of 9.5. It’s not as if the Eagles were expected to dominate these sessions. But I also can’t say they were the clearly superior team. The secondary didn’t play as well as I anticipated Wednesday, although the pass rush was strong, and it looks different in a game when you can hit the quarterback. The defense recovered on day two. It’s still hard to get a gauge of the passing game without Smith and Lemon in team drills. The running game was better Wednesday than Thursday. If the running game can carry Wednesday’s effectiveness into the season, you should feel good about the offense.What we learned at Eagles-Patriots joint practice, A.J. Brown reunionZach Berman and Brooks Kubena2. At what point do you expect Makai Lemon to make an impact in the regular season?Berman: If he’s back as a full participant in practice when the Eagles return from New England, it’s reasonable to expect Lemon to be a contributor during the first month of the season. He’ll have three weeks of practice and will be part of the Week 1 game-plan installation. But it’s also important to keep expectations realistic. When I say Lemon can have an effect early in the season, that doesn’t mean he’s a leading receiver or even compares to DeVonta Smith’s production as A.J. Brown’s sidekick during the past four years. It’s that Lemon can play a top-three role at wide receiver. I’m focusing more on whether he’s on the field with a defined role rather than the counting stats, because the production is a variable that could depend on factors that go beyond Lemon’s readiness. If they’re playing Hollywood Brown or Darius Cooper or Elijah Moore over him, then that’s where I’d have greater concern. I don’t expect that to be the case.Kubena: The expectations associated with Lemon’s No. 20 draft positioning are high. Brian Thomas Jr., the No. 23 pick in 2024, caught a Week 1 touchdown en route to a Pro Bowl season. The No. 20 pick in 2023? Jaxon Smith-Njigba, a first-team All-Pro on the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks last season. But Smith-Njigba also dealt with a training camp injury as a rookie — he had surgery on a wrist – and had a slow start to his career: He totaled 12 catches for 62 yards in Seattle’s first four games.Lemon has two weeks of playbook installation to catch up on. His summer training with Jalen Hurts should help. A four-week timetable for a significant impact is fair. And it’s not unprecedented: Cooper DeJean, who dealt with a summer hamstring injury himself in 2024, didn’t contribute meaningful defensive snaps as a rookie until after four games.3. What should we make of Jonathan Greenard possibly not being available for the start of the season?Kubena: I have to take the long view here. The Eagles could not have predicted an offseason pectoral injury for Greenard. He has a long runway to live up to his four-year, $98 million contract. (Jaelan Phillips, who signed a four-year, $120 million deal with the Carolina Panthers, also had health considerations.) The Eagles can temporarily lean on Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt, both of whom are under contract through 2027. But general manager Howie Roseman hasn’t fielded a premier edge rusher under a multiyear contract since Haason Reddick. The Eagles get off the field quicker when they field someone of Phillips’ caliber. (Their three-and-out percentage was 23.8 before the Phillips trade and 31.0 afterward).Berman: I don’t have the same view of the long runway. When you trade a third-round pick for a 29-year-old edge rusher and guarantee him $50 million, it’s a win-now mode. That doesn’t mean the first snap of Week 1 is of the utmost priority, but I view this differently than, say, Lemon. My feeling on his injury is unchanged from the start of camp — my concern isn’t when he’s back, but how the injury affects him this season. A pectoral injury for a pass rusher is not something to dismiss, and if this is affecting his production in October or December, then that’s problematic.4. What position group do you have the most confidence in right now? The least confidence?Kubena: Defensive tackle. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo are in great shape and constantly holding their own, getting into the backfield and swatting down passes. And Ojomo is hungry this year (“Contract year!” as left tackle Jordan Mailata emphasized). Ty Robinson’s promising preseason opener has me feeling more confident about the depth behind the starting trio. (And watching undrafted rookie Zion Wilson push over Patriots starting right guard Mike Onwenu in team drills.)I’m least confident about wide receiver. I’m also not at all surprised if we share this answer. Watching A.J. Brown during joint practices reminded me what the Eagles lost. He consistently wrangled contested catches, made unlikely touchdown grabs and got separation against premier competition (namely Quinyon Mitchell). Brown was always going to be singularly irreplaceable. But, collectively, Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore and Dontayvion Wicks are not consistently making the difference-making plays this system requires. Maybe that will change when DeVonta Smith — the primary target on many pure progression reads — returns from his hamstring injury.Berman: I’m with you on defensive tackle — Moro Ojomo is going to be (at least) a $20 million player somewhere else next season, and he’s the No. 3 defensive tackle. I’m expecting big years from Carter and Davis. Beyond defensive tackle, I’ll go cornerback for the top of the depth chart and inside linebacker for the overall depth. For the Eagles to have three Pro Bowl-caliber cornerbacks (Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Riq Woolen) and a linebacker depth chart with a starting-caliber reserve (Jeremiah Trotter Jr.), it’s a credit to the roster Howie Roseman assembled during the past few seasons.The position I’m least confident about is safety. Drew Mukuba has had a fine summer. However, he still needs to prove he’s a top-of-the-depth-chart safety. Marcus Epps is a solid veteran as the No. 2, although I’d like the situation better if there were a no-doubt No. 1 safety. And for a position that doesn’t have high-level starting options, it also lacks depth. The caveat: Cooper DeJean plays safety in base, and I expect the Eagles to play more base this season. If you consider DeJean a safety, the depth chart looks better.5. What do the Eagles do if Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee both regress?Berman: It’s more about what the Eagles see from McKee than Dalton in this final stretch. The benefit of Dalton is you know what you get — he has 173 career starts, including the postseason — and the appeal to another team in a trade (or the Eagles if they choose to keep him) is the safety net that he can run the offense and provide value to the room. I still believe Dalton will have value to teams that want a No. 2 quarterback before cutdown day. The question becomes whether the Eagles feel he needs to be their No. 2, and that would happen if they lose confidence in McKee. I’ve been a bit mystified by how they’ve handled this situation since the spring. Perhaps I overrated McKee, but I don’t believe I’m overstating the organizational support at this time last year. And for the record, I still believe in McKee and think he should be the No. 2 quarterback. I expect Cole Payton to be the No. 3 quarterback. I don’t see the Eagles keeping both McKee and Dalton.Kubena: Keep a roster spot open for Cole Payton. Dalton’s experience is his greatest asset. That alone could net the Eagles a seventh-round pick in a trade. Of course, that could be negated if Dalton’s 2026 tape doesn’t improve from Saturday’s debut (when the Eagles did not gain a first down in three drives). Perhaps the Eagles could keep him around as a resource on the practice squad. I don’t see the Eagles giving up on McKee, who is learning this system for the first time.6. What matters in the preseason game against the Patriots?Kubena: I am not a preseason nihilist. I could argue that everything matters in the preseason game. But what matters most, in my view, is the backup offensive lines stopping costly holding penalties. They committed five holding penalties in the preseason opener. All of them were on first or second down. That gums up the entire process. The run game is basically rendered moot. Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion can’t get to the heart of whatever limited playbook they’re using. Dalton and McKee are both throwing into low-percentage situations. And I can imagine the coaching staff using magnifying glasses trying to glean meaningful evaluations from such lousy conditions.Berman: I suppose some offensive momentum would be a good sign after the preseason opener — and McKee’s progress, in particular. Then again, I don’t know if offensive momentum from the reserves during a night without a team-specific game plan will indicate much for the season. So I’d focus more on performances from reserves who could have roles for the Eagles this season. Can Eli Stowers have a better performance in the second game? The second-round pick has had a slow summer, and even though the pick was made more for 2027 and beyond, he could take a pass-catching role if Dallas Goedert gets injured. The swing tackle spot could depend upon how Markel Bell plays. Can Kelee Ringo make strides to secure a backup cornerback spot, or will the Eagles need to look elsewhere to fill depth? And even if Vic Fangio tells us to calm down with the Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru storyline, their development is still fascinating to watch.