By Tony Moss, NFL Editor -- (Sports Network) - Philadelphia Eagles fans wanting to get a glimpse of Jets quarterback Brett Favre at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night had better be in their seats early. The future Hall-of-Famer is likely to make no more than a brief cameo in the contest, in keeping with final-week-of- preseason tradition, and might not play at all in the game.

Favre has been treated with kid gloves in his initial forays as a Jet, but has generally looked sharp in his two preseason outings. The 38-year-old has completed 14 of his 18 pass attempts for 144 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, for a preseason rating of 118.5.

With Favre possibly limited to spectating on Thursday, Eagles fans will get a long look at backups Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff, and possibly rookie Erik Ainge.

The homestanding Eagles will likely take much the same approach to personnel as will the Jets on Thursday night.

Philadelphia has already suffered some significant injuries during the summer, including a sports hernia that will force starting wideout Kevin Curtis to miss the beginning of the season, and head coach Andy Reid is unlikely to risk any of his key personnel in an essentially meaningless contest.

That should spell zero or limited time for the team's two most important offensive pieces - quarterback Donovan McNabb and running back Brian Westbrook.

McNabb has a sterling 95.8 passer rating in the preseason to date, and was 13- of-17 for 180 yards with a touchdown pass to Jason Avant in last Friday's 27-17 win over New England.

Westbrook had 58 yards on 10 total touches versus the Patriots.

Safety Brian Dawkins (ankle) is among the other prominent Eagles who won't play Thursday.

Favre will make his regular season debut as a member of the Jets on Sept. 7 in Miami, where he will face former New York starter Chad Pennington head-to- head. The Eagles begin their campaign the same day, when they host the St. Louis Rams.

Thursday will mark the 30th all-time preseason meeting between the Jets and Eagles, with New York holding a 18-11 edge in the series. The Jets won the most recent such matchup, 23-11, on the road prior to last season.

Philadelphia, which is 8-0 all-time against the Jets during the regular season, was a 16-9 road winner when the teams met in meaningful competition last October 14th.