The Eagles will be without Eli Stowers for Sunday’s season opener against the Washington Commanders, and the rookie tight end is now on injured reserve after a quadriceps injury was added to the hamstring issues that had already been bothering him.
Stowers, the 54th overall pick in April’s draft out of Vanderbilt, will have to sit out at least the first four games of the season. He had spoken Friday at his locker after practice and sounded like he expected to suit up, even saying he anticipated working in on special teams as part of his early ramp-up while he learns the blocking side of the position. But after he reported discomfort in his leg, imaging showed a quad strain, and the recovery is expected to take multiple weeks.
That leaves Philadelphia with Dallas Goedert as the starter and Johnny Mundt and E.J. Jenkins behind him at tight end for the matchup with Washington. The Eagles are also expected to lean more on multiple-tight-end looks in Sean Mannion’s offense.
The team made another move for the opener by elevating Britain Covey, who will handle punt-return duties, according to a team source.
The unofficial depth chart pointed toward rookie receiver Makai Lemon or free-agent addition Elijah Moore, but the Eagles had been trending toward a more familiar option all along. Covey led punt-return work in Thursday’s practice, with Cooper DeJean, Lemon, DeVonta Smith and even Tank Bigsby also getting reps. DeJean and Smith, two of the team’s biggest names, would only be used in high-leverage situations.
“It’s like having an extra coach in that punt return room,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said of Covey earlier this week. “We know Covey very well here.
He catches the ball great. He understands, identifies different returns, what their personnel is like.
[We] can bounce ideas off of him. There’s nobody better than Braden {Mann] to catch off, because Braden has every punt in the book.
He's able to see maybe one punt Makai's never seen, [and] Covey could talk him through that.
“Also having the ability, if something happens, [to have] a known commodity that has done a really good job in the NFL in terms of returning punts for us to have him in his back pocket.”
Philadelphia will be dealing with one of the league’s more accomplished punters in Tress Way, who kicks left-footed. When the Eagles face a left-footed punter, the team often brings in a specialist for a workout so the returners can get a feel for how the ball comes off the foot. This week, that player was Luke Elzinga, an undrafted Oklahoma product from 2025 who spent time with the Baltimore Ravens this offseason.
In Other News...
Nick Sirianni Faces An Early Eagles Test Fans Will Feel Fast
Nick Sirianni enters the season with plenty of winning history behind him, but also with a fresh round of scrutiny after the Eagles offense drew criticism during the 2025 campaign. The coaching staff has already made a notable change by bringing in Sean Mannion as the new offensive coordinator, a move that signals an effort to reset the conversation around a unit that never quite met expectations under Kevin Patullo.
The timing of it all makes Week 1 against the Washington Commanders especially relevant, because early games tend to shape the public mood around a coach as much as the standings do. Sirianni has built a 59-26 regular-season record over five years and has never missed the playoffs, but the opening stretch now carries a different kind of weight, with fans likely to judge quickly whether the new setup looks like a real fix or just the first chapter in another season of questions. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Suddenly Have A Week 1 WR2 Question Fans Can't Ignore
The Eagles head into Week 1 with a real question beyond A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and it starts with who settles into the next role at receiver. Makai Lemon has been working through a hamstring issue from camp, which has slowed his start, and that opens the door for Dontayvion Wicks to matter more than expected in the early part of the season. For a passing game that already leans heavily on its top two wideouts, the competition for those next targets is worth watching closely.
Wicks brings some familiarity from his time with the Green Bay Packers, and his profile has already shown up in the betting market as well, where his receiving yard total against Washington has drawn attention. The prop action suggests people are looking beyond just the obvious names in Philadelphia, and if Wicks can carve out a steady share of the offense, the Eagles could have a much different Week 1 receiver rotation than many expected a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Just Created A New Week 1 Tight End Concern
The Eagles headed into Week 1 with one more adjustment to their tight end room after placing Eli Stowers on injured reserve because of hamstring and quadriceps injuries. The move means Stowers cannot return to the active roster until after Week 4, a notable setback for a player who had been limited in practice but was still expected to be available before the injury situation caught up to him.
Britain Covey was temporarily elevated from the practice squad for the opener, giving Philadelphia a little more flexibility as it sorts through the early-season roster. For a team already trying to settle its offense, losing a tight end option this early adds another layer of uncertainty to a position group that now has to absorb the absence and move on quickly. [Read more 🡒]