The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6. They also lost another handful of players to injuries, and a bunch of them are now expected to miss some time. The Miles Sanders injury is the most concerning one, at least in terms of his position and what he means for the offense, while the Zach Ertz injury sounds like the most significant of the new ones.
Doug Pederson spoke to the media earlier in the day on Monday but said he did not have any updates on the team’s mounting list of injured players. But later in the day, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen revealed that Zach Ertz is expected to miss 3-to-4 weeks with an ankle injury while Miles Sanders will miss at least this Thursday’s game against the Giants.
In a subsequent tweet, Mortensen reported that defensive tackle Malik Jackson and offensive tackle Jack Driscoll are both expected to miss a couple of weeks with their respective injuries, as well.
Carson Wentz willed the Eagles back into the game on Sunday, and he damn near won them the game after the team as a whole started slowly. At one point in the game, Wentz and center Jason Kelce were the only two remaining offensive starters still on the field. And not only that, but the offense has lost multiple backups at multiple positions, as well.
This team’s injury situation is well documented, and it is a puzzling one. No one really seems to know why this has been a recurring theme for the last four seasons, and the organization has made multiple changes to its medical staff. But little has changed. In fact, things have somehow gotten worse.
When the Eagles take the field against the Giants on Thursday, they will be without the following offensive players:
- TE Dallas Goedert
- TE Zach Ertz
- WR Jalen Reagor
- RG Brandon Brooks
- RB Miles Sanders
- LG Isaac Seumalo
- RT Jack Driscoll
- LT Andre Dillard
- TE Joshua Perkins
And these offensive players are all some form of questionable for Thursday:
- WR DeSean Jackson
- WR Alshon Jeffery
- G/T Matt Pryor
- RT Lane Johnson
The team is reportedly optimistic that Jackson will be able to play, and Pryor is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list after being in close contact with someone who has tested positive. It’s possible those two are able to return. Lane Johnson is considered very questionable and should probably continue to rest his surgically-repaired ankle. Alshon Jeffery has yet to play this season despite being on the active roster for the entire year, and it’s not known if he is close to being able to play.
And these are only the injuries to offensive players. On defense, the team is going to be without DT Malik Jackson, LB T.J. Edwards, S Rudy Ford, and CB Trevor Williams and could be without LB Duke Riley, CB Avonte Maddox, S K’Von Wallace, and S Marcus Epps.
Short-term lineup changes
Running Back
With the Miles Sanders injury, the Eagles are likely to rotate Corey Clement and Boston Scott at the running back position. Neither has impressed this season, but that is the likely starting point. After those two, it’s possible that the Eagles promote Adrian Killins or Elijah Holyfield or attempt to use Jason Huntley more in the backfield.
Again, not ideal options. There is not a legitimate replacement for Miles Sanders on the roster.
Except for Jalen Hurts.
With Sanders out, expect the Eagles to continue to expand their Jalen Hurts package. It’s not a perfect solution, and there is no guarantee that the short-term success of the package continues, especially as opposing teams see more of it on tape and are able to gameplan for it.
But the package is working, and the Eagles would be wise to continue to tinker with it and explore their options with Hurts.
Tight End
Entering the year, the Eagles wanted to utilize what they believed were two of the best receiving tight ends in football. The plan was to go once again go heavy with 12 personnel and create matchup problems for opposing defenses. But Dallas Goedert was injured early in the season, and Zach Ertz was disappointing and ineffective for six weeks before suffering a high-ankle sprain against the Ravens.
The Eagles, of course, also famously waived Noah Togiai and lost him on waivers instead of keeping Alshon Jeffery on PUP (here’s more on the Alshon Jeffery situation). Togiai has done very little with the Colts, but the team would have likely preferred to hang onto him as a developmental tight end, especially given the injuries and an uncertain future at the position.
Now, the Eagles are down to Richard Rodgers as their starting tight end and some combination of Jason Croom, Hakeem Butler, and Caleb Wilson (currently on the practice squad) as their second tight end in 12 personnel. Croom was cut by the Bills and signed to the Eagles’ practice squad at the end of September, while Butler was signed from the Panthers’ practice squad and is being transitioned to tight end from wide receiver. Butler probably isn’t ready to see significant in-line snaps at tight end, so Croom will probably see a larger share of the workload on Thursday.
Dallas Goedert is eligible to return from injured reserve this week, but it doesn’t sound like he will be ready just yet. According to reports, he has been aiming to return for next week’s game against the Cowboys, but that is certainly not a given, either.
Josh Perkins is on injured reserve and is expected to miss the entire season.
Offensive Line
The Eagles are now without Brandon Brooks, Andre Dillard, Jason Peters, Isaac Seumalo, Lane Johnson, and Jack Driscoll on the offensive line. Depending on how you look at it, that’s four or five starters and two playable backups. Another player, G/T Matt Pryor, is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and is questionable for Thursday against the Giants.
That leaves Jason Kelce as the lone remaining starter, and he is playing with LT Jordan Mailata, G Nate Herbig, G Jamon Brown, and T Brett Toth. Brown is a journeyman lineman who was released by the Falcons in September, while Toth is a former undrafted free agent who was claimed by the Eagles a couple of weeks ago after being released by the Cardinals. Neither played well on Sunday.
Even before the Miles Sanders injury, the Eagles were struggling to run the ball consistently. And their depleted offensive line was a big reason why.
Because of the injuries, the Eagles don’t have many remaining options for Thursday. Their best-case scenario, at least for this week, is probably Johnson being able to play and Pryor being able to return and slide back in at RG. Pryor hasn’t been great this season, but he has been significantly better than what Brown showed on Sunday.
If Johnson can’t go, it’s possible that Pryor kicks out to RT and one of Sua Opeta, Luke Juriga, or Brown starts at RG. Based on how Brown looked, it’s probably time to see what either Opeta or Juriga can do.
The good news is that, long term, the Eagles have some good depth at the position. Mailata has shown some real potential at LT and could very well stay there for the rest of this season and then compete with Andre Dillard in 2021 training camp. Seumalo is an average to an above-average guard who has the versatility to play center. Nate Herbig has proven that he deserves to stick around, at least as a backup guard/center. Driscoll has played admirably while being thrown into some tough situations, and he should only get better. If not for the Lane Johnson ankle situation, he might be the starting RG right now.
