BALTIMORE - Joshua Weru had one less thing to worry about before making history on Saturday night: he slept well.
The Kenyan edge rusher said the night before his first-ever football game went smoothly enough at first, but the nerves still showed up once kickoff got closer. By the time he reached game day, a teammate had already given him the kind of reminder that sticks.
“Jonathan Greenard, was telling me, ‘If you’re not nervous, there’s something wrong. It probably means you don’t care or there’s something wrong,’” Weru said. “You’re always going to get nervous, just always try to channel that into being effective.”
Weru and fellow Eagles rookie Uar Bernard both took the field Saturday night for the first football game of their lives at any level. The Eagles fell 24-7, but the two International Player Pathway program products each logged defensive snaps in the second half and showed flashes in their first live action.
Bernard, a defensive tackle from Nigeria, said he felt the same pregame jitters. Once he got out there, though, the moment started to settle in.
“I had confidence in my teammates,” Bernard said. “I feel like I’m going to battle with brothers. So I feel comfortable with that.”
For both players, it was another meaningful checkpoint in a journey that began less than a year ago with the IPP. Their development has already been remarkable, but they’re still early in the climb.
The Eagles selected Bernard in the seventh round in April and signed Weru soon after the draft. The two were widely viewed as the top players in this year’s IPP class, and now they’re moving forward together in Philadelphia.
“It’s crazy,” Weru said. “Again and again, it’s truly like you can see the blessings that are coming to both of our lives.
The thought that we started earlier this year and we’ve actually gotten like substantial play time in the first preseason game. I can’t be anything but grateful.”
Neither rookie was perfect, but that wasn’t the point. The important thing was getting real snaps, feeling the speed and showing some of the promise both have displayed at training camp.
Bernard had one of the more memorable reps of the night in the fourth quarter. He fought through a block deep in the red zone, but he couldn’t finish the play and bring down Ravens running back Adam Randall, who scored on a 4-yard run. Bernard was frustrated afterward, though he also understood exactly what the moment represented.
“Yeah, I will learn from it and I should have gotten the tackle,” Bernard said, “but my first game, my first experience. I will work on that and I will get better.”
Weru left with production of his own, finishing with a tackle and a QB hit. On the hit, he came free untouched and closed in on quarterback Joe Fagnano for a solid shot.
“It was nice,” Weru said. “I just wish he had the ball when I hit him. It was nice to even just get through on a few reps.”
During the broadcast, left tackle Jordan Mailata - another IPP success story - reflected on his own first game experience and remembered giving up a sack to the Steelers on one of his first preseason reps in 2018.
Later, second-year defensive tackle Ty Robinson was caught on the broadcast laughing as Bernard headed back to the sideline. Robinson said Bernard told him: “Three people had me and I was just screwed.”
Robinson’s response was that game action is different from practice.
“In practice, we try to take care of each other,” Robinson said. “Here, it’s war.
I think him getting his first game, it’s been awesome to see him develop. He’s just going to become a better player as we go on.”
Vic Fangio has been clear all summer that Bernard and Weru are still far from being NFL contributors. But both rookies made their first game reps count enough to leave with something real: a first taste of the league, and a step forward.
And for them, that part mattered.
“Really fun,” Bernard said. “And people back home are proud of me too. And I’m proud of myself.”
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