When the Eagles drafted Defensive Tackle Uar Bernard, they were taking a chance on someone who has undeniable physical ability but also absolutely zero football skills. He simply hasn’t played any real football in his life. Bernard is now going through training camp and learning the game, showing off his abilities whenever he can. For never playing, he has been pretty impressive, impressive enough for the front office to possibly see a big future in him not unlike Jordan Mailata a few years ago. Here’s how this works.
When the Eagles drafted Mailata out of Australia in 2018, it was a cool bit of news, but no one really thought he was going to survive training camp that year, let alone make it in the NFL. Well, he was so impressive that first year that he made the Eagles 53-man roster out of training camp. Many figured he would simply get a phantom injury designation and join the practice squad, but that didn’t happen. It was for a reason.
Does anyone remember how the Eagles got Willie Lampkin from the Rams last season? The full story is above, but the short version is that Lampkin was going to make the Rams final roster out of camp but got hurt. Because he was not a vested veteran, LA was not allowed to put him on injured reserve without giving him one of their 53 man roster spots. Instead of giving him that roster spot, the Rams tried to get cute by releasing him with an injury designation in order to slide him through to their Practice Squad. That’s when the Eagles pounced and claimed his contract. They were then able to put him on the roster and then put him on injured reserve. They hoped he would return last season, but that never happened.
Here is how this works considering both the Mailata and Lampkin situations. The Eagles could try to waive Bernard and get him to their Practice Squad. If he makes it, the team gets an extra Practice Squad spot because Bernard is part of the International Pathway Program (this is what will likely happen with Josh Weru). However, doing this opens him up to other teams in the same way the Rams did with Lampkin. Any team, especially a bad one, would be foolish not to claim Bernard’s contract in the hopes of finding a diamond in the rough.
The Eagles obviously know better though and will likely opt to roster Bernard out of camp if they believe he has a future. This is what happened with Mailata. From there, they have two options. They could go the phantom injury route that you always hear about. Once a player has made the finalized 53-man roster out of camp, he can be put on Injured Reserve without being lost and the Eagles can replace him on the roster. That’s good. However, this also means that he can’t practice with the team. That’s bad. Bernard of all players needs practice reps desperately. That’s something he can do while on the Practice Squad, but not IR. Granted, the Eagles could have him simply practice with a private coach all season while he’s hurt, but that isn’t nearly the same as practicing with NFL players and coaches. Look at the good it did for Mailata in his development.
In the end, I fully expect Bernard to not only make the Eagles but to be on the 53-man roster most of the season without a quick trip to IR. He will likely not dress on game day and will finally hit IR come December. At that point, the Eagles will need to have a player available who could possibly play. It’s possible that could be Bernard, but not likely. Still, he will have had an extra 4 months to practice and learn with the team in order to be ready for next season. Obviously, this is all assuming he’s good.
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