Making up for lost time

But with Alex Highsmith rehabbing a rib injury that has prevented him from playing in the first two preseason games, snaps have been available.

Derrek Tuszka and Delontae Scott started at outside linebacker in the exhibition opener on Aug. 13 against Seattle (Watt was among the veterans who didn’t play).

On Saturday night in Jacksonville it was Watt and Genard Avery, a veteran of 53 career NFL games and 17 career NFL starts, including 12 with the Eagles last season.

Avery was released on Tuesday as part of the mandatory roster reduction from 85 to 80.

And the backup positions at outside linebacker remain unresolved, particularly the rotational reserve who subs in when Watt or Highsmith need a breather.

Highsmith is targeting the regular-season opener on Sept. 11 at Cincinnati for his return.

Opportunity, thus, is continuing to knock for someone as the train continues rolling down the track.

Rashed had a monster season at Oregon State in 2019, when he piled up 14 sacks and 22.5 tackles for a loss in 11 games.

His production fell drastically the following season (zero/two).

“There’s really no big surprise to it,” Rashed said. “Moral of the story, you had COVID (-19), you only played six games and I was the cover-down linebacker. I was the one that covered all the time.