PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles could be without two of their best safeties and their starting tight end on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Neither of safeties Reed Blankenship (concussion) or Sydney Brown (knee) participated in Thursday’s practice.
Brown could be ready by Sunday, but Blankenship is unlikely to play. C.J. Gardner-Johnson appears to be a go at safety, but tight end Dallas Goedert (knee) is also unlikely to play.
The Panthers (3-9) are one of the worst teams in the NFL, but this isn’t a game the Eagles want to give away.
“We know that this is a talented team that’s continuing to play good football,” Nick Sirianni said of the Panthers. “You can look at their last four games. They’ve played really good football. If you take anybody lightly in this league, it will humble you fast. This is a good team that has our attention, and our job each and every week is to be focused on the job at hand and lock in every single week.
“You don’t have to go there (avoiding a letdown) when that’s just your mission. That’s our standard, that’s our culture, and that’s what we do each and every week. Put our heads down and work and control the things we can control.”
Carolina is 2-2 in its last four games, but two of those contests were decided in overtime and all of them were a one-score differential.
The good news for the Birds is that receiver DeVonta Smith should be back after a hamstring injury.
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Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November. He could break the single-season rushing record.
“That’s your goal,” Barkley said. “You want to come in here and you want to leave a legacy on a place, on a franchise. … That’s not the driving factor. The driving factor is to win football games and put ourselves in position to make a run and go win it all.”
Barkley is on pace to break the record, which is 2,105 yards by Eric Dickerson in 1984, when he was with the Los Angeles Rams. Barkley has 1,499 yards through 12 games, with five left to play. Dickerson set the mark in a 16-game season, which would still put Barkley in the hunt.
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Sirianni isn’t buying the talk that quarterback Jalen Hurts is merely a “game manager,” just because he hasn’t thrown as much lately.
“I think the thing is, he’s cut down his interceptions and he is still being explosive as a player,” Sirianni said. “That’s a very tricky thing. … I think what he’s doing so well is that he’s reading the defense, he’s taking what they’re giving him. And when it’s not there, he throws it away or he creates an explosive play with his legs.
“That’s something so unique to Jalen. Again, he’s just doing all the little things, all the minute, boring details that a quarterback needs to do to have his team be successful. … There are things that aren’t obvious to the eye of everybody, things he’s doing to help us win. Whether that’s checks, whether that’s throwing it away when he needs to throw it away, whether that’s scrambling when he needs to scramble.
“We all see the highlight plays that he’s made, but he’s just playing really clean football and doing a great job leading this football team.”
Before the Week 5 bye, Hurts had a 10-week turnover streak dating back to last season.
Source: Berkshire mont
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