Some help at the cornerback position is on its way.

The Eagles on Wednesday morning opened the 21-day practice window for cornerback Jakorian Bennett, who has been in on Injured Reserve for the past four games. That means the Eagles have 21 days to activate him to the roster.

Bennett, 25, suffered a pectoral injury in Week 1 and tweaked it against the Rams in Week 3. He has spent the minimum of four weeks on IR and is eligible to return this weekend against the Giants.

What would the Eagles need to see from him in practice this week before that happens?

“Everyone’s a little different, right? You got to see that he’s ready,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “You’ve got to see that he’s mentally ready, you’ve got to see that he’s physically ready. That looks different at different positions and I can’t say, ‘Hey, here are the checkmarks that I’m looking for.’ You take all the expert opinions that you have, you talk to the players to see how he’s feeling and you make a decision at the end of the week off of that. 

“Because I’ve answered that question a lot and this is a different one, we’ve had practice doing it, to go through these. Hey, here are the steps that we take here. But, again, everyone is a little bit different. I can’t answer, ‘Hey, this is what we have to see.’ We just have to see how the week goes.”

It’s also worth noting that the Eagles did not activate the practice windows for OLB Nolan Smith (triceps) or WR Darius Cooper (shoulder); they went on IR at the same time as Bennett and are also eligible to return. The Eagles’ other roster move on Wednesday was signing OG Sua Opeta to the practice squad. Opeta, 29, has played in 38 games (10 starts) for the Eagles throughout the years.

Before landing on IR, Bennett had played just 24 defensive snaps this season, but he could be an answer to a problem spot in the Eagles’ defense. In his absence, the Eagles have used both Adoree’ Jackson and Kelee Ringo and neither of them have taken hold of the CB2 position. And Jackson is in the NFL’s concussion protocol to start this week.

So it’s not crazy to think that if Bennett is able to show enough in practice over the next few days, he could potentially start against the Giants. He was ahead of Ringo on the depth chart before going on IR and Ringo hasn’t done enough to earn that job full-time.

The Eagles traded for Bennett on Aug. 5, sending defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV to the Raiders. Bennett had to learn the Eagles’ defense on the fly and because of the limited time, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said his evaluation of Bennett is “incomplete.”

“I just never felt like I had a good handle on what he is and what he isn’t,” Fangio said on Tuesday. “I just don’t think he played enough to answer that with definitive conviction.”

But if Bennett shows enough this week, it might make sense to start him on Sunday against the Giants. This is the Eagles’ last game before the NFL’s Nov. 4 trade deadline and cornerback is a position on the shortlist of needs. Maybe Bennett can provide some stability at that spot.

While Bennett wasn’t a star with the Raiders, the former fourth-round pick from Maryland did start 11 games in 2023 and 2024 and played as a solid level.