Pederson not ready to rule Ertz, McKelvin out yet

The Eagles began preparations for Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears Thursday without injured tight end Zach Ertz and cornerback Leodis McKelvin.

"They'll be held out of practice. They're still week-to-week,'' Pederson said.

Pederson insisted that neither Ertz, who had six receptions in the Eagles' Week 1 win over Cleveland, nor McKelvin, have been ruled out of the Bears game. But when you're listing players as "week-to-week,'' it would seem there's almost no chance either of them will play.

Pederson said that the Eagles aren't planning to add another cornerback to their roster "right now.'' But they'll almost certainly do it by the weekend, and it probably will be rookie C.J. Smith, who is on the practice squad.

To add Smith, or anyone else, the Eagles would have to make room for him on their 53-man roster. Most teams in this situation, like to wait as late in the week as possible to make the roster move so as to minimize the chances of another team signing the player they are releasing.

The Eagles have no plans to add another tight end. Trey Burton, who missed the Cleveland game with a calf strain, is healthy and will be the second tight end against Chicago with Brent Celek, if Ertz can't play

"We're just going in with the three (cornerbacks) right now,'' Pederson said. "We haven't made that decision (to add anyone). We'll still monitor it day to day. But we haven't made that move yet.''

Pederson said Ertz has "progressed well'' and "is feeling better.'' But "we just can't risk putting him back out there right now with any kind of contact on that shoulder. It's still being monitored. It's a week-to-week thing.''

When asked if either Ertz or McKelvin are definitely out Monday, Pederson said, "We're still hoping for the best with both of them. We haven't ruled (either of them out) yet. We'll see when we get to Monday.''

Ertz's rib is displaced, not broken. Pederson said "it just needs to work itself back together and tighten whatever is up in there.''

The Eagles had hoped to use a lot of three-tight end sets with Ertz, Celek and Burton. But Burton missed the Cleveland game, and now Ertz is out.

The Eagles did use three tight ends five times against the Browns. But it was with offensive tackle Matt Tobin serving as the third tight end.

Assuming McKelvin can't play, it's likely that slot corner Ron Brooks will replace him outside in the Eagles' base defense. In their sub-packages, Brooks probably would move back inside and rookie Jalen Mills would play outside. It's also possible that defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz might just start Mills on the outside.

"I think it would be a combination of both,'' Pederson said. "But I'm very comfortable if Jalen were to start out there.

"If Ron were to start out there, then we can move Jalen inside and vice versa. So there are some combinations that we can play with throughout the week to see which one is the best fit. But I'm very comfortable if Jalen has to go out there and play corner.''