Eagles begin preparing for Week 17 vs. Cowboys, but how will they approach a game without postseason implications? | Early Birds

When asked about resting players, Pederson said to "do the math. " The Eagles have 53 players on the roster and they have seven inactive each week, so the Eagles need to dress most of their starters for Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys. That doesn't mean they need to play the whole game — or, for some, to play at all. Just look at the Week 17 Eagles-Cowboys last year. As the Eagles did this year, the Cowboys had clinched the No. 1 seed. In addition to their inactives, they dressed running back Ezekiel Elliott, linebacker Sean Lee, and offensive lineman Ronald Leary and didn't play them. They took many key starters out in the first half, including quarterback Dak Prescott. By the second half, it was mostly deep reserves. That would be a sensible way for Pederson to approach Sunday's game, even though Pederson said he hasn't made a decision yet about playing time. Get most of the starters early snaps and hope they put a few good drives together to enter the bye week on a positive note, but try to escape the game healthy and take a look at down-the-depth-chart players in the second half. Pederson is not asking me for advice, but that's how I'd handle Week 17.

If you're waiting for the Eagles to change their offense or simplify the scheme for Nick Foles, keep waiting. They're going to run the Eagles offense — as players and coaches have said, that's their "DNA." Plus, some of what Carson Wentz did special wasn't a part of the offense. It was Wentz improvising to make plays. "A lot of the plays that Carson makes are just his God-given ability to run and to make plays with his legs," Pederson said. "It does help you out to make big plays that way. But Nick has the ability to make big plays through the air. Believe it or not, he is pretty efficient when he is out of the pocket in finding receivers and guys down the field. We're going to continue to run the offense the way we have all season. We just have to get better execution." The Eagles went 1 for 14 on third downs against the Raiders. Just think how many third downs Wentz converted on broken plays or off-schedule plays. Those are conversions the Eagles aren't getting from Foles.

What stood out in the Eagles-Raiders playing time distribution? Dannell Ellerbe, who played only one snap this season before Monday, took 39 percent of the snaps at middle linebacker. Derek Barnett was down to 29 percent of the snaps at defensive end, although he missed time last week with a groin injury. At running back, Jay Ajayi went backward after creeping above 50 percent in recent weeks — he was down to 41 percent of the snaps Monday. Corey Clement took a bigger third-down role and played 40 percent of the snaps.

Doug Pederson knows Nick Foles must play better, which is why Foles will play against Dallas, Les Bowen writes.

Foles didn't look Alshon Jeffery's way enough on Monday, and Mike Sielski says Foles must get Jeffery more involved.

Pederson hasn't made up his mind about whether he'll rest players, but he hinted that at least some starters will play.

Dannell Ellerbe started at middle linebacker against the Raiders. Is he the new starter?

The Eagles must decide Sidney Jones' status soon, and Pederson didn't rule out activating the second-round pick.

The way the Eagles played on third down should cause concern for the playoffs, Paul Domowitch writes.

What did Jeff McLane learn in the Eagles-Raiders game?

Domo offers five reasons the Eagles won.

In the latest Birds' Eye View podcast, McLane and I discussed Foles, the defense, and resting starters.

If you missed Tuesday's newsletter, it looked at the Eagles' ugly win.