Andy Reid: Starters may play three quarters

The Eagles coach, flanked by play-by-play guy Merrill Reese and sports talk genius Howard Eskin, said Monday night that he expected to play his starters “into the third quarter, maybe the whole third quarter” in Thursday’s third preseason game against Cleveland.

The third preseason game is often viewed as the most intense, or a dress rehearsal for the season. He also indicated that the starters might play in the following week’s preseason finale against the Jets. Typically, first-teamers don’t play in that one.

“We’ll see what gets done on Thursday and if I have to go next Thursday with some of the guys, I’ll do that, too,” Reid said on his 610 WIP radio show.

Reid also confirmed that DT Mike Patterson could see some snaps, but not many, against Cleveland. Patterson is being eased back after suffering a seizure Aug. 3 at Lehigh.

The coach also said that S Jarrad Page split time with S Nate Allen on the first-team defense at Monday’s practice. Allen looked out of sorts last week in Pittsburgh and recently told Philly Sports Daily that he has been experiencing some knee tendinitis.