BALTIMORE – In a lot of ways, it was a surreal, is-this-really happening Saturday night, Uar Bernard said late in the evening, sitting at his locker at M&T Stadium following the Eagles' preseason-opening 24-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

"I had chills. It was unbelievable, a dream-come-true experience for me," said Bernard, a 2026 seventh-round draft pick as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program. "Standing next to my brothers (Eagles defensive linemen) who have helped me so much, it was so incredible."

This was no joyride for Bernard or for Joshua Weru, another player from the International Player Pathway Program. In the end, it was all business. They are here to develop as football players and to win jobs here and to help the Eagles win football games. This story is not a scouting report on their progress, but more of a story of another step in remarkable journeys combined with a football team working together to bring players into a world that was so foreign to them up until the Eagles brought them to Philadelphia – Bernard as a draft pick and Weru after the 2026 NFL Draft.

Another step taken on Saturday night. A big one for both players.

"How exciting for those two guys to be playing in an NFL football game," Head Coach Nick Sirianni said after the game. "It's really cool how this thing works out and the opportunity that they get. I thought they played with really high effort and were into it the entire night and, again, it's really cool that they're out there."

Where this all goes, nobody knows at the moment.

The Eagles have stressed patience here, and understandably so. Offensive tackle Jordan Mailata, one of the best in the game on the left side, spent his first two seasons on Injured Reserve before coming around physically and mentally to the game.

He is the Grade A example of the best-case scenario here, but Mailata's rise is an anomaly relative to the history of the program. It's not even worth going there now. This is a moment to appreciate the magnitude of the night for Bernard, a basketball player from Nigeria.

"I'm proud of myself knowing how far I've come," Bernard said. "More to go. I will keep working hard, getting better."

Every step is a new one. Bernard hadn't been, for example, cut block in his life before the game. He saw that in the trenches against Baltimore. He did some things that showed his improvement, but it's not fair to grade him until he has a better sense of the techniques offensive linemen use and the way quarterbacks move and the deception in place to fool defensive linemen.

Every time Bernard came to the sidelines after a series, the coaches were there to show the play on the coaching tablet and discuss what happened on each play.

"It made sense to me," Bernard said.

That's the great thing. There are a million steps to go, but the connections are being made and understood. Progress, progress, progress.

"He did good things out there," defensive tackle Byron Young said. "We're all helping him out a lot. He's improved so much – he even improved throughout the course of the game. He had a play where he struck the guard and then shed into the secondary gap and he missed the tackle and he was frustrated by that. He was frustrated by that. That just shows how much he's improved and how hard he is on himself. He wants to be great. I love watching him."

Said Bernard on the play, which resulted in a Baltimore rushing touchdown: "That tackle was mine. I missed it. It was there for me."

Every player experienced what Bernard and Weru experienced on Saturday – a first time on an NFL sideline. They were nervous, knees shaking, stomach quaking.

"It was overwhelming for me, intimidating," Young said. "And I played in NFL stadiums in college. I can't imagine what it was like for them tonight. First football game ever. It's amazing, it really is."

Another first for both Bernard and Weru. Next time, they both expect to be better, move forward, take the next step on fascinating journeys in real time.

"My first game, I gave up a sack on my second or third snap," Mailata said. "Not a real great memory, but you learn from it. Everything they are doing, it's the first time they've done it and they are handling it great. We are all proud of them and there for them helping them have success."