Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) at PHILADELPHIA (5-2)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m., CBS
BetMGM NFL odds: Eagles by 7 1/2.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Cleveland 4-4; Philadelphia 4-3
SERIES RECORD: Eagles lead 4-3.
LAST MEETING: On October 2, 2022, Miles Sanders rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns to lead Philadelphia to a 29-21 home victory over the Jaguars.
LAST WEEK: Jaguars lost 30-27 at home to Green Bay; Eagles won 37-17 at Cincinnati.
EAGLES OFFENSE: OVERALL (8), RUSH (2), PASS (20), SCORING (10).
EAGLES DEFENSE: OVERALL (7), RUSH (8), PASS (10), SCORING (7).
Jaguars OFFENSE: OVERALL (14), RUSH (16), PASS (16), SCORING (21).
Jaguars DEFENSE: OVERALL (29), RUSH (9), PASS (31), SCORING (T-29).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Jaguars minus-5; Eagles minus-4
RB Saquon Barkley continues to be a bright spot for Philadelphia after signing for $26 million guaranteed with the Eagles in the offseason. The former No. 2 overall pick who played the last six seasons with the Giants has rushed for 109.4 yards per game, which is second in the NFL. Barkley racked up 5,211 rushing yards and 2,100 passing yards with the Giants.
Walker Little finally landed a starting tackle role with the Jaguars, with free agency looming. The 2021 second-round draft pick out of Stanford is in the final year of his rookie contract. Little has played in 48 games, with 18 starts, since general manager Trent Baalke selected him with the 45th overall pick that year. He has fallen short of expectations during his Jacksonville tenure. The Jaguars could use this as an evaluation period following Cam Robinson's trade this week.
Jaguars rookie WR Brian Thomas Jr. against Philadelphia’s secondary. Thomas has been impressive in his early career, accumulating 33 receptions for 573 yards and five touchdowns. His TD receptions are tied for sixth-most in the NFL and just one shy of the club’s single-season rookie record of six, set by Allen Hurns. The Eagles’ secondary ranks 10th in the league, averaging 193.9 yards surrendered per contest, and is anchored by six-time Pro Bowl selection Darius Slay. Rookie CB Quinyon Mitchell is third in the league in forced incompletions with nine.
Jaguars: RB Travis Etienne (hamstring) was limited in practice on Wednesday after missing the last two games. Starting guards Ezra Cleveland (ankle) and Brandon Scherff (knee) are both banged up. Receiver Christian Kirk will miss the remainder of the season after breaking his left collarbone.
Eagles: TE Dallas Goedert (hamstring) did not practice on Wednesday after being sidelined for the last two contests.
The Eagles are 2-1 against Jacksonville in the three meetings in Philadelphia.
Jaguars: Jacksonville ranks near the bottom of several defensive categories, including total defense (382.1 yards per game/29th), pass defense (271.1 yards per game/31st) and points surrendered (28.0 points per game/T-29th). … Coach Doug Pederson was 42-37-1 as Philadelphia’s coach from 2016 to 2020 and led the Eagles to the franchise’s only Super Bowl victory in 2017. … Logan Cooke averaged 59.6 yards, including one 73-yarder, on five punts last week against the Packers. … DE Travon Walker has a team-high 6 ½ sacks. … RB Tank Bigsby has rushed for 493 yards and 4 touchdowns. … QB Trevor Lawrence has thrown for 1,835 yards and 11 TDs. EAGLES: QB Jalen Hurts has been on a roll in his last three games, completing 71.2% of his passes for 614 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions over that stretch. The Eagles’ $255 million franchise quarterback has 15 total touchdowns this season, which ranks fifth in the NFL. … WR A.J. Brown leads the team with 408 yards, three touchdowns and 21 catches despite missing three games due to injury. … RT Lane Johnson has not allowed a sack this season.… LB Zach Baun has a team-high 69 tackles. … Philadelphia will wear its Kelly Green throwback jerseys.
Philadelphia WR DeVonta Smith has caught touchdowns in three of his six games this season, totaling 386 yards and 31 receptions. In his third game back after sitting out one due to injury, Smith had six catches for 85 yards, including a 45-yard TD reception, against the Bengals last week. Smith will be facing a Jacksonville pass defense ranked 31st in the NFL.
Jacksonville Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence congratulates Brian Thomas Jr. after a touchdown catch during the second half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Eagles return home looking to defeat struggling Jaguars
Eagles return home looking to defeat struggling Jaguars
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts reacts following an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Cincinnati. The Eagles won 37-17. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Rocket fire from Lebanon killed five people in northern Israel on Thursday, including four foreign workers, in the deadliest such attack since Israel's invasion earlier this month.
The attack came as senior U.S. diplomats were in the region to push for cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza, hoping to wind down the wars in the Middle East in the Biden administration’s final months.
The Hezbollah militant group has been firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel, and drawing retaliatory strikes, since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of the Gaza Strip triggered the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies backed by Iran.
The conflict along the border escalated into a full-blown war last month, when Israel launched a wave of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his deputies. Israeli ground forces pushed into Lebanon at the start of October.
The Metula regional council reported Thursday's attack, without detailing the number or type of projectiles used. The nationalities of the workers were also not immediately known.
Metula, Israel’s northernmost town which is surrounded by Lebanon on three sides, has suffered heavy damage from rockets. The town’s residents evacuated in October 2023, and only security officials and agricultural workers remain.
The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, an organization that advocates for foreign workers, said authorities had put them in danger by allowing them to work along the border without proper protection.
Agricultural areas along Israel’s border, where much of the country’s orchards are located, are closed military areas that can only be entered with official permission.
Hezbollah's newly named top leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, said in a video statement Wednesday that the militant group will keep fighting Israel until it is offered cease-fire terms it deems acceptable. He said it has recovered from a series of setbacks in recent months, including attacks using explosive pagers and walkie-talkies that was widely blamed on Israel.
“Hezbollah’s capabilities are still available and compatible with a long war,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military warned people to evacuate from more areas of southern Lebanon, as airstrikes in different parts of the country killed eight people, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.
Israel has warned people to evacuate from large areas of the country, including major cities in the south and east. Some 1.2 million people have been displaced since the escalation in September.
Thousands of people have fled from Baalbek, the main city in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, and surrounding areas after Israeli evacuation warnings and aerial bombardment on Wednesday.
Jean Fakhry, a local official in the Deir al-Ahmar region, some 17 kilometers (10 miles) to the southeast, said the main highway “turned into a parking lot.” He said around 12,000 displaced people are staying in the area, with most being hosted in private homes.
At one of the shelters, families with luggage were still arriving on Thursday.
“Our homes were destroyed,” said Zahraa Younis, from the village near Baalbek. “We came with nothing —no clothes or anything else — and took shelter here.”
More than 2,800 people have been killed and nearly 13,000 wounded in Lebanon since the conflict began last year, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
In Israel, rockets, missiles, and drones launched by Hezbollah have killed at least 68 people, about half of them soldiers. More than 60,000 Israelis from towns and cities along the border have been evacuated from their homes for more than a year.
Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Tawil from Deir al-Ahmar, Lebanon.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Displaced children, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, play at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, sit at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced children, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, study inside at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced woman, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with her family amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, walks at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced children, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, play at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced woman, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, holds her daughter at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced people, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel, take shelter inside a church sanctuary, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced children, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, play inside a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A displaced woman, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, changes the diaper of her daughter at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced children, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, play at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced children, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, listen to a story at a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced children, who fled Baalbek city and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday with their families amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, are reflected in a mirror inside a school being used as a shelter, in Deir Al-Ahmar, east Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed building that was hit Tuesday night in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Sarafand, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A civil defence worker searches for victims in the rubble of a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday night, in Sarafand, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Emergency workers carry the body of a victim found in the rubble of a destroyed building hit Tuesday night in an Israeli airstrike in Sarafand, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
