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Making sense of the Eagles' inactives

The Eagles have announced their inactives for Sunday's game against the Rams: Vince Young, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Curtis Marsh, Danny Watkins, Julian Vandervelde, Winston Justice and Phillip Hunt.

What stands out here?

Let's start with the offense. With Young sidelined, Mike Kafka will have to be ready if Michael Vick goes down. Rams defensive end Chris Long had 42.5 QB hurries last year, according to Football Outsiders. That was tops in the league. He'll line up opposite Todd Herremans, who gets the start at right tackle.

The Eagles will go with two backup offensive linemen, which was common last year. Today, they are King Dunlap and Jamaal Jackson. Dunlap got work at both right and left tackle in the preseason. He'd have to step in if Jason Peters or Herremans were to go down.

If Evan Mathis or Kyle DeVan were to get injured, the Eagles would likely have Jamaal Jackson fill in, even though almost all of his NFL experience has come at center. I guess they could also move Herremans back inside and play Dunlap. But that seems less likely.

Steve Smith is active as the fifth wide receiver. We'll have to just wait and see how much he plays.

Defensively, Hunt is the only Eagles defensive lineman who won't dress. They will go with an eight-man rotation there.

All six linebackers are active, which is not surprising, considering the role they play on special teams.

Marsh is the only cornerback who is inactive. We'll see how Juan Castillo handles the cornerbacks. Will Joselio Hanson see more time than Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in nickel? Will the Eagles play a lot of dime? Both are options.

The Eagles go with four safeties, and Jarrett is the odd man out. Colt Anderson gets the nod for his special-teams prowess.

The team drafted 11 players in April's draft. Two were cut last week: Stanley Havili and Greg Lloyd. Four are inactive today, including the team's top three picks: Watkins, Jarrett, Marsh and Vandervelde. And five are active: Casey Matthews, Brian Rolle, Dion Lewis, Alex Henery and Jason Kelce.

Join me at 1 p.m. for our first live chat of the season. I'll have updates and commentary throughout the game.

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