UPDATED: 6:05 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Eagles made a trade, but it didn't involve any players. They traded fake crowd noise for real crowd noise.
Some fans got a taste of how things used to be, as Lincoln Financial Field opened its doors to a limited sampling of the public for the first time this season.
Only 7,500 were allowed inside the 70,000 seat area, including staff, players, media, and fans. A strict mask policy and social distancing guidelines were enforced.
For lifelong Birds fan David Hoffer, it was good to get back into the Linc, but not quite the same.
"Definitely, definitely different than a full, packed house," he said.
Hoffer was more impressed by stadium officials' ability to enforce COVID-19 safety guidelines than he was with the Eagles' performance, in a 30-28 loss to Baltimore.
"Feeling good but a little disappointed in the game today," he said, "but the stadium did a good job at keeping everybody secure and safe."
Fans Steve and Liam agreed that it wasn't quite the same. They weren't too happy with the limited crowd size.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to having 69,000 people there versus 5,000," Steve said. "It was a little bit quiet."
When Greg Carol saw that city officials, and the Eagles' owner, gave the greenlight, he didn't hesitate to get his seats.
"No question, as soon as I got the call that Jeffrey Lurie needed me," he joked, "I bought the tickets and I was right here."
Anne Gray was glad to hear about the safety protocols.
"I think the organization knows how to play it safe and everyone has to wear a mask," she told KYW Newsradio. "I think they’re limiting the fan base."
"They've done a great job and we wouldn't have missed it," she said.
Audrey Polce showed she knew how to dress for the occasion: shirt, jacket, earrings, and mask.
And despite the changes, Steve, who was with his son Armon, said it felt like a regular game day.
"It's just great to be out and come back to normal," he said. "That's the key thing right here."
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Die-hard fan Shelly told NBC 10 she was excited to be going with some friends and one of her kids.
"In the crazy time that we're going through right now, everybody needs football," she said.
Still, some season ticket holders stayed home.
Ron told NBC 10 it wasn't worth the risk.
"Only having 7500 people there or 10,000, whatever it's going to be, I would feel safe with that. That would not bother me. But 70,000's a different story," he said. "It's probably safer for this one season just to opt out."
The Eagles, now 1-4-1, will host the New York Giants Thursday night. Fans will once again be in attendance.