Eagles receiver Riley Cooper has missed two preseason games and team drills at practice for two weeks, due to an apparent ankle injury.

On Sunday, Cooper returned to 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 sessions at practice. He hopes to play in the next preseason game, on Thursday night against the Steelers.

“Yeah, that’s our goal,” Cooper said Sunday, via Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. “I’m pretty excited. I’ve been out a while. Two weeks. It feels like a long time.”

Cooper’s status had been cloaked in a bit of mystery, since coach Chip Kelly initially suggested Cooper would be back soon.

With starters rarely if ever playing in the preseason finale, Cooper has only one chance to get sort-of live reps until the reps become fully live in Week One against the Jaguars.

The Eagles really need Cooper back with Jeremy Maclin a little banged up now. Fortunately for the Birds, Jordan Matthews bounced back after a not-so-good debut in preseason Week 1. The Eagles WRs were questionable coming into camp, but injuries have made things a bit more cloudy at the position...

After an inconsistent performance with several drops at Chicago, Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews came back to catch nine passes for 104 yards. Matthews, a second-round pick from Vanderbilt, showed tremendous poise in his second preseason game.

Matthews saw extra snaps thanks to injuries to Jeremy Maclin (hamstring) and Riley Cooper (foot). His snaps are going to be limited if everyone is healthy, but that's proving to be difficult for the team's starting receivers. He's an upside pick in the later rounds, but he may not play starter's snaps right away (or even this season).

Although Eagles WR Riley Cooper is feeling better, his answer to whether or not he would play in Week One did not exactly ooze with confidence.

"I'm pretty confident," Cooper said after a long pause. "I'm fairly confident."

Cooper has been sidelined from team drills a little under two weeks with a foot injury, but he has been taking part in some individual work. It is not clear exactly how serious the injury as, as the team as been coy when asked about when they expect Cooper back.

"Its just what we thought," Cooper said when asked if he expected to be out this long. "Slowly getting back into it."

Cooper is doing some individual work, which is encouraging, but one would think that he would be more confident in his ability to play Week 1, given that it is still three weeks away. Given Cooper's foot injury and Jeremy Maclin's hamstring tweak, Jordan Matthews may be pressed into action sooner rather than later (though it should be noted that Brad Smith is still playing ahead of the rookie in the slot).

Of the Eagles’ pass catchers, Zach Ertz made the biggest impression during three scrimmages with the Patriots this week.

Most of the tight end’s work came against the second team defense. But when the Eagles went with two or three tight-end sets against New England’s starters, Ertz got open nearly as much.

His play through all of training camp -- which ended with Thursday’s light practice -- and the first preseason game has suggested that Ertz needs to see more time with the first team.

But whether Eagles coach Chip Kelly needs to see improvement in the second-year tight end’s blocking, or he doesn’t yet want to promote him over veteran Brent Celek, or he’s waiting to unveil an offense that is heavy with two tight ends, Ertz will have to wait.

This is our primary concern with Ertz -- playing time. He averaged 2.8-32-.56 over the final nine games of the season (including the Eagles' sole playoff game) and that included two goose eggs in Week 10 and Week 14. That equates to 6.6 fantasy points per game, which is what Martellus Bennett averaged as the #10 TE in fantasy football. With Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson gone, Ertz could play a lot in the slot, though the arrival of WR Jordan Matthews may limit Ertz’s snaps there. If he can take a step forward in the blocking department, it will help his overall fantasy outlook.

Eagles TE Zach Ertz had a very good day, as the Patriots defense struggled sticking with him. Want to cover Ertz with a linebacker? Good luck. Want to go nickel when Ertz is in there? Prepare to get pounded with the run. The Eagles have three players who can be mismatch nightmares for opposing defensive coordinators: LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles, and Ertz.

Ertz averaged 2.8-32-.56 over the final nine games of the season (including the Eagles' sole playoff game) and that included two goose eggs in Week 10 and Week 14. That equates to 6.6 fantasy points per game, which is what Martellus Bennett averaged as the #10 TE in fantasy football. With Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson gone, Ertz could play a lot in the slot, though the arrival of WR Jordan Matthews may limit Ertz’s snaps there. For Ertz to break out in 2014, he needs to play more snaps.

Eagles TE Zach Ertz played in 41 percent of the team's offensive snaps - 450 out of 1,104 - as a rookie in 2013. He played an additional 23 snaps (out of 58) in the playoffs. Pegged as an ascending player, will Ertz be on the field more in his second seasons? Ertz's improvement as a blocker will help dictate that.

"I think Ertz is a guy defenses (watch) - now you start adding the down and distance to it. You put Ertz in the game with (Brent) Celek, and we tighten him down. I think he's improved as a blocker on first down," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "But if you put Ertz in the game on second and third down maybe where it's more of a pass-first type scenario to the defense for whatever reason, then we can spread out Ertz. Now you have to decide are you going to cover him with a linebacker or are you going to commit to putting maybe a third defensive back in the game?"

Ertz averaged 2.8-32-.56 over the final nine games of the season (including the Eagles' sole playoff game) and that included two goose eggs in Week 10 and Week 14. That equates to 6.6 fantasy points per game, which is what Martellus Bennett averaged as the #10 TE in fantasy football. With Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson gone, Ertz could play a lot in the slot, though the arrival of WR Jordan Matthews may limit Ertz’s snaps there. If he can take a step forward in the blocking department, it will help his overall fantasy outlook.

Eagles beat writer Sheil Kapadia...

TE Zach Ertz had a strong day. It would not surprise me one bit if he led the Eagles in touchdown receptions this season. He's going to be a tough matchup in the red zone.

On one play, Foles slings a bullet high to Ertz in the middle of the end zone. He stretches his arms up high and makes a beautiful hands catch above his head. Among all the Eagles pass-catchers, Ertz is the best at making contested grabs.

Ertz averaged 2.8-32-.56 over the final nine games of the season (including the Eagles' sole playoff game) and that included two goose eggs in Week 10 and Week 14. That equates to 6.6 fantasy points per game, which is what Martellus Bennett averaged as the #10 TE in fantasy football. With Jason Avant and DeSean Jackson gone, Ertz could play a lot in the slot, though the arrival of WR Jordan Matthews may limit Ertz’s snaps there. It sounds as if the team plans to use him heavily in the red zone, however.