We'll be doing our usual Essential Practice Notes later in the day, but there are a number of players with evolving injury situations, so we thought we'd discuss them here:

- Zach Ertz (groin) was cleared for Wednesday practice. It's a good sign for his Monday availability. We would try to avoid starting him this week, but some owners may not have that option.

- Alshon Jeffery (calf) returned to practice. It now appears that he’s on track to play Week 1. After the Kevin White situation, the Bears are not to be trusted when it comes to injury information, but owners can pencil him into lineups.

- Mike Evans (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday. Nearly two weeks ago, Evans said that he could have played had there been a game, so we’re expecting him back at practice at some point this week. Stay tuned.

- Randall Cobb (shoulder) returned to practice. Cobb’s return means that he’s very likely ready for a heavy workload against the Bears.

- LeSean McCoy (hamstring) is "ready to roll" per HC Rex Ryan. Expect a near-normal workload in Week 1.

- Duke Johnson (concussion) was cleared to practice. He should serve a change-of-pace/3rd-down role for the Browns in Week 1.

- Victor Cruz (calf) is still not practicing. He seems unlikely to play against the Cowboys in Week 1. Beat writer Dan Graziano says there’s a “good chance” that Cruz doesn’t play before Week 4. Rueben Randle becomes a Sneaky Start if Cruz is out. Last year, Randle played 79 percent or more of the snaps in 13 games. In those games he averaged 5.0 catches for 65 yards and 0.23 TD. This equates to #25 WR-type numbers when we look at 2014 totals.

Some good news for the Eagles six days before their season-opener in Atlanta: Tight end Zach Ertz will try to practice Wednesday for the first time in nearly a month, a team source told CSNPhilly.com's Reuben Frank.

NJ.com reported Wednesday that Ertz has been cleared to practice.

Ertz, a focal point of the Eagles' offense, has missed the entire preseason with a core muscle injury, which he had surgically repaired on Aug. 14. According to the source, no decision has been made yet about whether he will be able to play in Monday night's season opener at Atlanta.

Ertz will begin practice Wednesday and proceed based on how he feels. He is still considered day to day, and the fact that he is returning to practice does not guarantee he will be ready to play against the Falcons. This is also a Monday night game, so owners will need a backup plan if they are counting on Ertz just in case he is inactive.

Eagles TE Zach Ertz said he feels better every day, but still not sure if he'll play week 1. Optimistic but expects it to be near game decision.

Ertz was the #13 TE in both standard and PPR formats despite only playing half of the Eagles’ snaps in his second year. Most (73%) of his snaps came on passing downs, so if his playing time is going to increase, a majority of the additional snaps are likely to come in run formations. Still, there’s upside with Ertz if he begins to see starter’s snaps. The Eagles lost their leading receiver -- first DeSean Jackson and then Jeremy Maclin -- in back-to-back seasons, so there will be opportunity from a targets standpoint. At this point, we wouldn't be surprised if he's held out Week 1, but it's a good sign that he's still optimistic about his potential availability.

When the season winds down next January or February, there's a very good chance that Brent Celek will have taken the majority of the Eagles' tight-end snaps once again this season. Not Zach Ertz.

This was supposed to be the summer Ertz wrestled the starting job away from the 30-year-old Celek. He worked hard in the offseason to improve his blocking, talking to offensive line coaches and future Hall of Fame tight ends and training with MMA fighters.

But then he suffered a core-muscle injury early in training camp and has missed the entire preseason. Ertz hopes to be back for the Atlanta game. But even if he is, his snaps likely will be limited to passing downs and two-tight-end sets.

And if the preseason and their 11-on-11 team work in training camp is any indication, the Eagles will be cutting down on their use of two-tight-end sets this season as they make greater use of running back Darren Sproles in the passing game.

Last year, they used two-tight-end formations on 344 of their 1,128 offensive snaps, or 30.1 percent of the time. Celek played 815 snaps; Ertz played 587.

Ertz was the #13 TE in both standard and PPR formats despite only playing half of the Eagles’ snaps in his second year. Most (73%) of his snaps came on passing downs, so if his playing time is going to increase, a majority of the additional snaps are likely to come in run formations. Still, there’s upside with Ertz if he begins to see starter’s snaps. The Eagles lost their leading receiver -- first DeSean Jackson and then Jeremy Maclin -- in back-to-back seasons, so there will be opportunity from a targets standpoint. The groin injury isn't helping, so owners who draft Ertz should be prepared for an unproductive September.

When the Eagles take the field for the regular season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Sept. 24, they may do so without tight end Zach Ertz.

Ertz underwent core muscle surgery on Aug. 14 and was expected to miss the entire preseason with an eye towards the season opener as a return date.

"No comment yet," Ertz told NJ Advance Media following Tuesday's practice at the NovaCare Complex when asked if he was still on target for playing Week 1. "I should know soon, though."

On Monday Ertz was seen catching balls from the JUGS machine and getting extra work in after practice for the first time since suffering the injury earlier this month. To make it worse for fantasy owners, the Eagles play Monday night of Week 1. Brent Celek is a possible late, emergency replacement at the position if you're really counting on Ertz.

Eagles HC Chip Kelly said tight end Zach Ertz will sit out the entire preseason with a nagging "core muscle" problem. He said Ertz should be ready for the season opener Sept. 14 at Atlanta. The Eagles later confirmed that Ertz had surgery, performed by Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia. Center Jason Kelce said Ertz had a more minor tear than Kelce suffered last season, when Kelce was operated on by Meyers for a sports hernia and missed four games and five weeks. Kelce said it took a few weeks after he came back to really feel right again.

If Ertz had a 'more minor tear' than Kelce then it's possible he could heal more quickly than the five weeks it took Kelce to return to the field. If Ertz is out for four weeks, then he may be able to return to practice leading up to Week 1. For now, consider him questionable for Sep. 14, but be relatively confident that he returns by Week 2 or Week 3 at the latest.

Via Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com, Eagles coach Chip Kelly said the tight end Zach Ertz has a core muscle injury, and won’t play the rest of the preseason.

He’s still expected to be fine for the start of the regular season, but the Eagles wanted to give him time to rest. He’s seeing Dr. Williams Meyers (the sports hernia specialist in Philadelphia who did Arian Foster’s surgery), but Kelly didn’t know if Ertz would need or already had any kind of procedure.

Kelly didn't rule out surgery, but the hope is by shutting him down now Ertz will be ready to go for Week 1. That's not locked in stone, however. Brent Celek is next up on the depth chart but has spent more time as a blocker last year. He is a proven pass-catcher, though. Kelly said Trey Burton, the team's TE3, has been doing a nice job in camp thus far so he could be in line for more time. If Ertz does have surgery, a Week 1 return might not be possible because the standard timetable is 6-8 weeks. This was supposed to be his bust-out year, but owners drafting in the near future will have to have a backup plan in case he needs surgery and misses the start of the season.

Tight end Zach Ertz spent a good chunk of the offseason in Arizona doing MMA training in his never-ending quest to improve his blocking.

Judging by his play so far in training camp, it worked.

“He’s certainly a more efficient blocker,’’ offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. “His redeeming quality as a tight end is as a pass receiver. We all know that.

“But what’s important and what was maybe not considered a redeeming quality, you improve at. And we’ve seen those improvements that he’s focused on in the offseason.

“He’s better with his feet. He’s doing a better job of hitting his target. And depending on where the play is being run, he has a little better idea of how the defender is going to try to beat him and then how to finish the block.’’

Ertz was the #13 TE in both standard and PPR formats despite only playing half of the Eagles’ snaps in his second year. Most (73%) of his snaps came on passing downs, so if his playing time is going to increase, a majority of the additional snaps are likely to come in run formations. Still, there’s upside with Ertz if he begins to see starter’s snaps. The Eagles lost their leading receiver -- first DeSean Jackson and then Jeremy Maclin -- in back-to-back seasons, so there will be opportunity from a targets standpoint. Ertz's snaps are a guessing game right now.