PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles will be without the services of safety Sydney Brown and wide receiver Quez Watkins when they entertain the Washington Commanders Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Brown and Watkins have ailing hamstrings and are listed out on the official injury report. Additionally, safety Justin Evans is questionable for the Commanders with a neck injury, though he practiced Friday.
What that means for the depth chart is anybody’s guess, although Eagles rookie cornerback Kelee Ringo, the fourth-round pick out of Georgia, has been cross-training at safety.
“If the opportunity comes,” the 6-2, 210-pound Ringo said, “I’ll definitely be prepared for it.”
Veteran Terrell Edmunds has starting experience at safety. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni indicated that promoting safety Tristan McCollum to the active roster was a possibility.
“We have good depth here, guys that are multi-purpose throughout the secondary,” Sirianni said Friday. “So, we feel like we have a good plan that we’ve been getting ready for all week with practice.”
Olamide Zaccheaus, who caught a touchdown pass last week and Britain Covey are available to play snaps at wide receiver. The Eagles have their fingers crossed that DeVonta Smith is ready to go after an illness that’s limited his practice week.
It would be another interesting twist to see Ringo work into the lineup at safety. Last week the Eagles got solid work at the nickel from veteran cornerback James Bradberry, who cross-trained at that position during training camp.
“(At) corner, you have to be a lot more technically sound, play in and play out, every single moment,” Ringo said. “So, I would definitely say corner’s a little bit harder. At safety you’re basically the quarterback of the defense aside from the linebacker. You have to be able to know what everybody else does and also your cues, and you have to play the run and the pass. You have to be prepared in order to do that. You have to get the extra film study and do the little things right.”The Eagles aren’t exactly playing a Hall of Fame type quarterback in Sam Howell, who has taken a league-leading 19 sacks and thrown five interceptions, second-most in the league.
The Eagles also lead the league in run defense due largely to the defensive line, specifically tackles Fletcher Cox, Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. The Commanders (2-1) are coming off a 37-3 drubbing by the arm and legs of Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
The Eagles (3-0) are better than the Bills, at least on paper, and are 9-point favorites over the Commanders.
For the Commanders, running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. has been ruled out due to illness and safety Percy Butler is questionable with a foot injury.
• • •
Through three games, the Eagles trail only the Dolphins in rushing offense. The Birds have rushed for 557 yards on 113 carries (4.9 ypc.) compared to 565 yards on 93 lugs (6.1 ypc.) for the Dolphins.
No disrespect to D’Andre Swift, who with 308 yards trails only NFL rushing leader Christian McCaffrey (353), but the Philly blocking has been nothing short of spectacular. Swift leads the league with a 5.2 yards average in yards before contact this season. Teammate Kenneth Gainwell is eighth in the league at 3.1 yards before contact per carry.
Swift averaged 7.1 yards before contact on 16 carries worth 130 yards in the win over the Buccaneers last week. The league average is 2.6 yards before contract per carry.
If you were wondering who had more yards before contact per carry than Swift last week it was De’Von Achane, the AFC offensive player of the week. He averaged 8.7 yards before contact on 18 carries for 156 yards in a 70-20 blowout of Denver.
• • •
During his appearance Friday morning on Up & Adams – FanDuel TV’s daily morning show hosted by Kay Adams, Malcolm Jenkins didn’t flinch when asked which team he’s played for has the best fans.
It was the Eagles, not the New Orleans Saints or Ohio State Buckeyes, and it included an anecdote.
“The first game I had as an Eagle, we went three and out the very first drive,” Jenkins said. “And they started booing, and it was the best feeling. I was like ‘Yes, this is going to be home for me.’”
• • •
Since Week 6 of last season, Covey leads all NFL punt returners with an average of 13.4 yards. He is also first with 336 punt return yards, nine returns of 15 or more yards, five returns of 20 or more yards and four returns of 25-plus yards. Look for those numbers to keep trending upward.
“It’s really nice to learn from wins,” Covey said. “You keep your morale high, and you can learn from wins rather than learn from losses. I think that’s kind of what we did last year. And so, I think it’s a good trend going forward. And … it’s just a lot better than the alternative.”
• • •
Which wide receiver would you rather have in your offense, Justin Jefferson or Tyreek Hill?
Took this reporter one second to vote for Hill. Yet Jefferson won by a comfortable margin, receiving 96 of the 175 votes cast by sports writers, TV media and Hall of Famers. Hill received 75 and four votes were cast for “others.”
Who do you like?
Source: Berkshire mont
Be First to Comment