DeSean Jackson is going to miss approximately two months after suffering a non-displaced fracture in his right ankle in Thursday night’s win over the New York Giants. He suffered the injury after volunteering to return a punt late in the game and then taking a brutal hit to the head followed by a (very) late hit after he was clearly down.
Lane Johnson, who has been dealing with a troublesome surgically-repaired ankle all season, also left the game with a knee injury. However, this injury appears to be a minor MCL sprain, and there is a chance that Johnson could return as early as this Sunday against the Cowboys.
With the Eagles having an off week in Week 9, it would probably be wise to let Johnson rest and have him healthy (or at least healthier) for Week 10 against the Giants and the home stretch. But Johnson always wants to play, and Doug Pederson even joked during his Wednesday press conference about how hard it is to keep him off the field.
In addition to this injury report tracker, we are running an Eagles Week 8 News Tracker for Cowboys Week. Be sure to check out that page and look for daily updates all the way until Sunday night. We’ll be posting links to the latest news with short summaries, so you can find all of the important news for this big week in one place.
Now, let’s get to the injuries.
Eagles Week 8 Injury Report Tracker
Wednesday’s Injury Report
In Doug Pederson’s press conference earlier in the day, the head coach said that Jalen Reagor, Dallas Goedert, Jason Peters, T.J. Edwards, and Rudy Ford have all been cleared to practice on Wednesday. For a team that desperately needs to get some players healthy in a hurry, that is great news. However, the news is not all good.
In addition to DeSean Jackson and Hassan Ridgeway being placed on injured reserve this week, Jack Driscoll, Craig James, Miles Sanders, Nate Gerry, Lane Johnson, and, of course, Alshon Jeffery did not practice on Wednesday. The Alshon Jeffery situation is well documented, and he is still apparently dealing with a calf injury despite being previously cleared to practice for his foot injury.
Here is the official injury report released by the team on Wednesday:
Note: The aforementioned Reagor, Peters, Edwards, Ford, and Goedert are all not listed on this injury report because they are all still technically on injured reserve. They have been cleared to practice, and their 21-day practice windows have been activated, but they are not officially on the active roster and do not have to be included on the injury report.
It sounds like Edwards, Reagor, and Peters all have very good chances of playing, while Goedert could miss this game and return after the bye week. Goedert was in pads and running routes on Wednesday, however, so he should not be officially ruled out just yet.
Malik Jackson was limited and is considered questionable with a quad injury, while Genard Avery was also limited with an elbow injury. K’Von Wallace, who missed Thursday’s game against the Giants with a neck injury (previously believed to be a shoulder injury), was a full participant.
More to come on Thursday.
Thursday’s Injury Report
Doug Pederson mentioned on Wednesday that keeping Lane Johnson off of the field is easier said than done. On Thursday, Johnson was able to practice in a limited fashion.
It is worth noting that Thursday’s practice was a light one without pads, so Johnson wasn’t participating in any full-contact drills. Still, it is encouraging that he was able to get onto the field on Thursday.
As mentioned in the Wednesday report, Reagor, Peters, Edwards, Ford, and Goedert are all technically still on injured reserve and are not required to be on the injury report, so we don’t know if they are full or limited participants. It sounds like Reagor and Edwards are locks to play, Peters is trending towards playing, and Ford and Goedert are unlikely to play but are not being ruled out just yet.
UPDATE: According to a report from NFL insider Geoff Mosher, Jalen Reagor is playing on Sunday night against the Cowboys:
As for the other updates, Genard Avery was downgraded from a limited participant on Wednesday to a DNP on Thursday. That doesn’t bode well for his availability on Sunday. Vinny Curry missed practice with an illness, but there’s a good chance that is precautionary based on what we have seen from the Eagles this season.
It is looking like Jack Driscoll and Nate Gerry are going to miss Sunday’s game as well. Gerry certainly will not be missed by fans, but Driscoll is an important depth piece for this Philadelphia offensive line.
Malik Jackson was limited again on Thursday and will likely be listed as questionable for Sunday. The Eagles protected T.Y. McGill and Raequan Williams on their practice squad this week, and one or both could be promoted to the active roster if Jackson is unable to play.
Cre’Von LeBlanc popped up on the injure report with a quad injury that he apparently picked up during yesterday’s practice.
We’ll have official injury designations on Friday afternoon.
Friday’s Official Injury Designations
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson spoke to the media on Friday morning and, among other things, hinted that Jason Peters could return as the team’s starting left tackle. And with Friday’s news that Lane Johnson will be active on Sunday, that could mean Jordan Mailata is headed back to the bench.
Peters, Jalen Reagor, Dallas Goedert, Rudy Ford, and T.J. Edwards are all not listed on the team’s official injury report on Friday because they are all technically still on injured reserve and not the active roster. Peters, Reagor, and Edwards are all locks to be activated. Ford sounds like he could be returning, too, though the team could wait to opt to wait until after the bye week (and traded deadline) for roster space purposes.
Goedert is the most interesting scenario right now. Early in the week, he still wasn’t activated from injured reserve and was considered a longshot to play. But he was activated on Wednesday and has since been practicing. He has said that he is optimistic he will be able to play, and we’ll find out for sure on Saturday.
Here are the injury designations from the team’s official injury report on Friday.
- Genard Avery and Nate Gerry—were placed on injured reserve on Friday, meaning they will miss the team’s next three games (not weeks). That means they are out for Sunday against the Cowboys, Week 10 against the Giants after the Week 9 bye, and Week 11 against the Browns. Avery flashed in one game this season but has otherwise been an afterthought. Gerry’s struggles are well-known to Eagles fans, but it’s not like the team has any depth at the position. As noted earlier, T.J. Edwards is returning for the Eagles this week.
- Craig James and Cre’Von LeBlanc—The Eagles once again find themselves in a bit of a pickle at the cornerback position. With James and LeBlanc both out, the team is down to just Darius Slay, Avonte Maddox, and Nickell Robey-Coleman at cornerback, with Jalen Mills as an emergency option.
- Lane Johnson—Somehow, Lane Johnson keeps managing to play through injuries. He injured his knee in the team’s win over the New York Giants on Thursday and is still recovering from offseason ankle surgery, but Johnson practiced on Friday and is suiting up for Sunday’s matchup against Dexter Lawrence and the Cowboys. No one can question Johnson’s toughness, even if the team is probably better off holding him out and letting him rest for a few weeks.
- Vinny Curry—Curry popped up on the injury report with an illness earlier this week, but this was probably just a precautionary move by the Eagles. Curry should be good to go.
- Malik Jackson and K’Von Wallace—Jackson and Wallace both missed Thursday’s game against the New York Giants but are both returning from their respective injuries. The Eagles placed Hassan Ridgeway on injured reserve earlier this week, so they would have been down two defensive tackles if Jackson had to miss Sunday’s game. Wallace is a bit more buried on the depth chart now that Will Parks is back, but Wallace could be right back in the thick of things if a cornerback goes down and Jalen Mills has to move from safety to corner. Also, there’s this Albert Breer report that Will Parks is being discussed in trade scenarios.
- Jack Driscoll—Out with an ankle injury. Should be able to return after the bye week. The Eagles are getting healthier along the offensive line but could definitely use the depth. It’s not out of the question that he plays some right guard at some point this season.
- Miles Sanders—He’ll miss this game with a knee injury but should be ready to roll after the bye week. With the team’s offensive line finally starting to get healthy, too, we might finally get to see a complete offensive attack from the Eagles. Assuming that everyone can stay healthy until then, of course. With Sanders out, Boston Scott figures to see the majority of work in the Philadelphia backfield once again.
- Alshon Jeffery—Cleared of his foot injury, Jeffery picked up a calf injury. Doug Pederson said on Friday that he doesn’t know when or how he injured his calf. As we have been discussing for weeks, Howie Roseman and the Eagles have completely botched this Alshon Jeffery situation for more than a year now…
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