Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews has a bone bruise in his left knee, coach Doug Pederson said Tuesday.

That's good news for Matthews and the team. After Matthews was injured during Friday's practice in a collision with rookie cornerback Jalen Mills, Pederson thought the injury was more serious.

"It looked bad on tape when I watched it," Pederson said Tuesday. "It looked worse than what I initially thought out here on the field. Now it's definitely day-to-day. There's no structure damage in there, which is definitely pleasing. On tape, it looks like it could have been."

Matthews could miss the first two weeks of preseason, Pederson said in the story. Chris Givens will start in Matthews' place Thursday in the team's preseason opener.

After wide receiver Jordan Matthews was forced out of last Friday’s practice with a knee injury, Eagles coach Doug Pederson downplayed the severity of the injury by saying Matthews was “just going to be sore” for a couple of days.

It’s been a couple of days and it seems that there’s more concern in Philadelphia than just a big of sorenes. Pederson said on Monday, via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that Matthews will be sidelined for a few weeks and that the team hopes that he’ll be able to play in their third preseason game against the Colts on August 27.

This certainly turned into something more serious for the Birds top WR. Matthews was hurt on a low hit by rookie defensive back Jalen Mills in the same practice that saw tight end Zach Ertz leave for a concussion evaluation after another low hit from rookie Blake Countess. That led Ertz to call for younger members of the team to pay closer attention to where they’re hitting their teammates.

The Eagles’ running backs and wide receivers won’t be near any lists for the top groups in the NFL, but their offensive hopes go beyond those skill positions. Look for the tight ends to fill a major role in the offense, with Zach Ertz, Brent Celek, and Trey Burton all a part of the passing game.

“Tight end is a strength of this roster, this offensive unit,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “If you look at Doug’s [Pederson] system and what they did in Kansas City with their tight ends and how we’ll utilize them here, it’ll be very consistent with that, and we’ve got the players to do it. We can mix it up. They’re all real good, smart route runners – every one of them. So, we expect really good production from that unit.”

Ertz will be the biggest contributor of the group. Ertz caught 75 passes last season for 854 yards and two touchdowns. The receiving yards and touchdowns could see a jump this season. There were five tight ends who led their teams in receiving yards last season. Ertz might join that group that season. Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, and Darren Sproles will all be big parts of the passing offense, but the best mismatch could come from Ertz.

We had a story Sunday on the Eagles looking to involve Trey Burton in the offense, someone who has been a relative unknown with only two years in the league and three career catches. Expect him to split out wide and/or come out of the backfield. Celek is more than a capable receiver, but the safe fantasy bet seems to be Ertz here, and the story talked a lot about his skills.

Wide receiver Jordan Matthews, with a sprained knee, was one of three starters and five Eagles players to miss Saturday's abbreviated 10-10-10 practice.

Matthews suffered the knee injury during Friday's practice when he was hit by rookie cornerback Jalen Mills in a full contact drill. Saturday's practice was non-contact.

Jordan Matthews suffered a left knee sprain, but Doug Pederson told SiriusXM that Matthews will just be sore for a few days.

Zach Ertz, who was also evaluated for a head injury, was cleared, but he was clearly unhappy with how some of his teammates have approached the hitting periods. Ertz was hit low by Blake Countess today and by Rodney McLeod two days ago.

“Guys gotta be pros,” Ertz told reporters after practice. “Rookies coming in, they don’t know what the atmosphere is like, the respect that’s given in practice.”

Seems like both players will be fine, which is good news. The original report of the injury said both hits were low and borderline dirty.

Two of the Eagles most important offensive players exited Friday's practice early with injuries after borderline dirty hits by two rookie defenders.

Wide Receiver Jordan Matthews attempted to catch a pass along the sideline during full-team drills late in Friday's session.

Earlier, tight end Zach Ertz went to make a reception and rookie defensive back Blake Countess went somewhat low on the tight end.

According to the story, Matthews stayed down for several seconds before heading back inside with trainers with a noticeable limp in his step. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said after practice that Ertz was undergoing evaluation for a concussion.

In some ways, Chris Givens is the exact kind of receiver that the Andy Reid version of the West Coast Offense has utilized since the big guy entered the NFL’s head coaching ranks in 1999.

In his first two years in Kansas City, Reid didn’t have an all-around receiver better than Jordan Matthews (sorry, Dwayne Bowe), but he did have at least one guy who could run straight down the field and draw safety help. You've probably heard it referred to as the 'X' receiver, i.e., the guy who lines up on the line of scrimmage on the weak side of the formation, the side without the tight end.

The position of WR is a cause for concern in Philly and outside of Matthews there isn't a ton of fantasy potential right now. But things can change. Givens likely isn't going to be a starter but it seems the team will try to use his speed and mix him in with Agholor and Randle on the outside with Matthews mostly in the slot.

Eagles HC Doug Pederson continues to rotate the receivers in and out of the first team offense with Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Chris Givens, Rueben Randle and Josh Huff as the primary players.

Matthews will spend the bulk of his time lining up from the slot, but he still sees time on the outside.

There’s competition for the “X” receiver spot, which is the DeSean Jackson-receiver role in Andy Reid’s offense. That guy is ideally the game-breaker, the outside receiver the quarterback needs to rely on the most because he typically starts on the short side of the field. Givens has the most speed of the group. Agholor has the most riding on his success. Randle may have the most talent of the three.

Huff’s role may morph. He’s received a lot of screens over the last week.

The big question is who plays on the outside. The Birds have rotated WRs in the past but it seems like the team hopes Agholor and Randle earn the outside jobs with Givens speed getting mixed in. Overall it's not an impressive group but, as they say, someone will have to catch the balls. Factor in a slower-paced offense, and the Eagles just don't have a lot of highly-desired fantasy weapons.

Rueben Randle is the most accomplished receiver on the Eagles' roster, and was brought in to be a safety net for the younger players. Despite missing a portion of OTAs due to surgery, it wouldn't be surprising to see Randle be the receiver with the most targets this season outside of Jordan Matthews.

Matthews will likely remain in the slot for most of his snaps and can create mismatches with his size, but on the outside, it wouldn't be shocking to see Randle ahead of second-year player Nelson Agholor. Inconsistent Josh Huff projects to be the fourth guy with Chris Givens fifth. Randle is only 85th on our list but is getting some late-round attention in drafts for just this reason.

This was Doug Pederson in March when asked about using wide receiver Jordan Matthews less in the slot and more on the outside: "I think he can play outside. I'm going to look at him outside as we go through this spring. With his skill set, I think he can play both (inside and outside)."

This was Pederson Friday when asked the same question about Matthews: "Jordan, again, he's been good on the outside. (But) he's better inside, because he's got that big body and he knows how to sort of use it in space.

"One thing he can do, particularly in tight areas, is separate from man-to-man type coverages. That's one thing we've seen (from him) this spring from the slot position. But again, he's a position-versatile guy that you can move around."

Matthews: "Obviously, I've done slot two years in a row. Inside, I feel I'm at another level when it comes to playing inside. But I definitely want to be able to move around and do some other things for this offense. And I think coach is going to let me do that."

Matthews may play outside in two-WR sets, but it looks like he's mainly going to play in the slot. He finished 25th and 16th in PPR formats in his first two seasons, and may be hard-pressed to match those numbers since Pederson's offense is likely to operate at a much slower pace than Chip Kelly's. Pederson will have to feature Matthews like he did Jeremy Maclin last year for Matthews not to see a significant dip in targets.