It was hard to miss the size of the Eagles’ Wednesday injury report, and hard to feel great about it, either.
Seventeen players showed up as either limited or not participating, which puts the team at nearly a third of the roster on the report. At least Jalen Hurts was not among them. After being added last Friday before the trip to London with a calf injury he said he picked up against the Rams, the quarterback sounded relieved to be back on the field this week.
“It was a very unique experience to say the least,” Hurts said on Wednesday. “I don't want to get into the details of kind of leading up to the game or whatnot, but I got nicked up in the Rams game.”
That injury helps explain why Hurts didn’t come out at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until right before kickoff, when he was trying to loosen up. It may also help explain why he ran only twice for two yards in the loss to the Jaguars, with the Eagles avoiding a tush push in short-yardage spots.
Even with Hurts back on the report as a non-factor for now, the rest of the list was long enough to raise real questions ahead of Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.
Six players did not practice: running backs Saquon Barkley (hamstring) and Will Shipley (foot); safety Michael Carter (abdomen); outside linebacker Jalyx Hunt (knee/ankle); offensive lineman Drew Kendall (knee); and receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring/toe).
Barkley, Smith and Kendall were already out last week, and Kendall’s absence mattered because it was the first game since Week 2 without him at center. Smith, meanwhile, was supposed to be the team’s No. 1 receiver this season after A.J.
Brown was traded. Instead, he has now missed the previous two games, even though he opened the year on pace for a career season with 19 catches on 27 targets for 235 yards and a touchdown through three games.
Hurts, at this point, is dealing with the challenge of making it work with a receiver room full of new faces. When asked about the trust factor with the pass catchers around Smith, he pointed to the value of the process itself.
“Building a lot of trust, and there's value in that,” said the QB. “There's value in those experiences, and ultimately there's time right now.
When I reflect on my experiences as a quarterback, I think about the down times; I think about the times where we had adversity in front of us, and I could look at the guys around me and see how we responded to that. And that gave me the utmost encouragement to be able to build forward and have confidence in what will come.
“And I think the same thing about where we are right now with this group. The plays that are being made and things that are being put on tape and then the conversations that are being had.”
The Eagles are also stretched dangerously thin at running back. With Barkley, Shipley and Tank Bigsby all unavailable - Bigsby was placed on IR last week - Dameon Pierce is in line for a heavy load, with Carson Steele probably next and Jaydon Blue a possible option from the practice squad.
There’s trouble in the secondary as well. Carter’s absence could leave Kenny Moore in line to start at safety, a spot he has never played before, although he handled it well for a stretch after Carter left early with the injury.
The list of limited participants was just as crowded: cornerback Jakorian Bennett (knee); receivers Tay Wicks (hamstring) and Hollywood Brown (ankle); tight ends Grant Calcaterra (back), Eli Stowers (quad), and E.J. Jenkins (toe); left guard Landon Dickerson (knee) and right guard Tyler Steen (shoulder); outside linebackers Jonathan Greenard (ankle) and A.J. Epenesa (back); and safety Marcus Epps (groin).
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Jalen Hurts Health Just Became A Bigger Eagles Concern
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Hurts has not offered much detail about how the issue started or what exactly led to it, leaving the timeline of the setback a little murky for now. For Philadelphia, the larger concern is simpler: with the season already under pressure, any uncertainty around Hurts adds another layer of urgency to the weeks ahead. [Read more 🡒]
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The challenge now is not just getting the team back on track, but sorting out what this version of the Eagles is supposed to be after a youth push and the loss of veteran presence. Sirianni remains under the microscope, and so does the larger power structure that surrounds him, with Howie Roseman still central to every major decision. For a team trying to balance urgency with a roster in transition, those questions are unlikely to fade any time soon. [Read more 🡒]