The Philadelphia Eagles released their third and final official injury report of the week on Friday ahead of their Week 4 game against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Eagles have ruled out six players: DeVonta Smith, Zack Baun, Dallas Goedert, Marcus Epps, Hollywood Brown and Fred Johnson.
Smith is dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out of practice this week. Reports indicate he could miss a game or two after this weekend.. It’s not great for the Eagles to miss their best receiver, let alone against tough opponents. With Smith and Brown out, the Eagles will be left with the following five receivers: Dontayvion Wicks, Makai Lemon, Elijah Moore, Darius Cooper and Britain Covey. Wicks appears to be the Eagles’ No. 1 target in Smith’s absence. Lemon could also see increased opportunities…but hopefully not in the entirely predictable screen reception variety. Moore played more snaps than Cooper last week, despite being scratched in the first two games. The Eagles could trust Moore to play more on offense, even though Cooper has shown potential there. Cooper might still get more opportunities than usual while playing on special teams. Covey is the Eagles’ punt returner.
Baun misses a game due to non-rest reasons for the first time since joining the Eagles. He was unable to practice this week due to a concussion. His absence means Jeremiah Trotter Jr. will make his first career start in a game where the Eagles have no rest. It will be interesting to see how Trot Jr. performs. He has some athletic limitations, but he is very savvy and plays with a lot of anticipation. Smael Mondon will be the best replacement. The Eagles could consider temporarily elevating newcomer Anfernee Orji for emergency depth and special teams purposes. Chance Campbell was placed on the practice squad injured reserve list earlier this week.
Goedert misses his second straight game with a knee injury. And so the Eagles will be without both their best wide receiver and their best tight end against the Rams. Goedert’s absence means the Birds will roll with Zach Ertz, Johnny Mundt and EJ Jenkins as tight ends on Sunday. Mundt played the most snaps of any player at his position in Week 3, but Ertz had just joined the team a few days before. We’ll see if Ertz’s workload increases. It will also be interesting to see if the team consists of more than 12 people without DeVonta.
Epps was unexpectedly added to the injury report Thursday as a limited participant. He then did not practice on Friday. Maybe he has a legitimate injury. But maybe the Eagles are slowly benching him? Maybe not, because they now only have one full-time safety on the roster: Andrew Mukuba. Michael Carter II should start in place of Epps, but he’s a converted nickel cornerback. Ditto for Kenny Moore, who is expected to make his Eagles debut this weekend. Of course, Cooper DeJean will play safety when the Eagles use their base defense, which could often be against the Rams, who use 13 personnel at a very high rate. If the Eagles want more safety, they might consider temporarily elevating Cole Wisniewski from the practice squad for this game.
Brown apparently suffered an injury in practice last week. He risks missing his second consecutive match. Brown was previously active during Week 1 but did not play any snaps. He made some designed touches in Week 2.
Johnson apparently also suffered an injury in practice last week. He is also expected to miss his second straight game. Rookie tackle Markel Bell will be the tackle in his absence. He could already be the tackle when Johnson is healthy; this is not clear. The Eagles played a game last week with Bell as their sixth offensive lineman.
Players notably listed without playing status: Jihaad Campbell, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Jonathan Greenard, Byron Young, Will Shipley, Tank Bigsby, Darius Cooper and Jonathan Jones.
Campbell was limited Friday with a “knee/rest” injury designation. It was previously limited on Wednesday before being upgraded on Thursday. And then go back down to limited on Friday. It’s a bit unusual. But he will play. The Eagles certainly need him to be able to adjust to Baun’s absence.
Carter spoke to reporters in the locker room on Friday and revealed that his cast would be removed in the near future. I’m clearly not a medical expert, but it seems like he probably shouldn’t be playing right now? It would be nice to heal him keeping the bigger picture in mind. But that won’t be the case.
Davis and Ojomo were limited Wednesday and Thursday before being upgraded Friday. They are ready to play.
Greenard was at full strength in practice this week. This is an improvement from last week, when it was limited to two days and full to one day. Looks like he might be able to play a bigger role than he played against the Bears, who accounted for just 25% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps.
Shipley has been slowly rising this week. He was placed on the DNP list on Wednesday before being reclassified to limited on Thursday. He was at full tilt on Friday.
Young, Cooper and Bigsby all practiced hard all week.
Jones is a new addition to the report with a quad injury. He was, however, a full participant on Friday.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES INJURY REPORT (FRIDAY)
LB Zack Baun (concussion)
WR Hollywood Brown (ankle)
S Marcus Epps (groin)
TE Dallas Goedert (knee)
OT Fred Johnson (knee)
WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring)
CB Jakorian Bennett
TE Grant Calcaterra
OG Landon Dickerson
S André’ Sam
TE Eli Stowers
WR Johnny Wilson
Bennett, Calcaterra and Stowers are eligible to return to the active roster after Week 4. Dickerson is eligible to return to the active roster after Week 5. Sam and Wilson are out for the season.
RESERVE/NON-FOOTBALL INJURY
LOS ANGELES RAMS INJURY REPORT (FRIDAY)
The Rams ruled out three players: starting defensive tackle Aaron Donald, starting cornerback Jaylen Watson and No. 2 tight end Terrance Ferguson.
The Eagles dodging Donald and Myles Garrett is a nice break for their offensive line. But we’ll see if they can actually take advantage of it.
Watson’s absence puts Emmanuel Forbes in contention to start against the Eagles.
Ferguson ranks second among Rams tight ends in targets, receptions and yards.
The Rams tried two QUESTIONED players: Colby Parkinson and Joshua Stewart.
Parkinson, who leads all Rams tight ends in snaps played, did not practice this week. Players who don’t practice usually don’t play and the Rams already have plenty of depth at tight ends. But we’ll see.
Stewart is a new addition to the report. He missed Friday’s practice with a groin injury. Stewart started in place of Garrett.
DT Aaron Donald (return)
TE Terrance Ferguson (ankle)
CB Jaylen Watson (shoulder)
TE Colby Parkinson (knee/shoulder)
EDGE Josaiah Stewart (groin)
QB Matthew Caldwell
OL Justin Dedich
EDGE Myles Garrett
Ronnie Rivers, running back
EDGE Keir Thomas
Keagen Trost
EDGE Eddie Walls III
Gn sports
