The former Eagles roster watch had a little bit of everything in Week 7: injuries, a quiet outing, a turnover, and one monster tackling performance.
Reed Blankenship was forced to sit out the Houston Texans’ loss to the New York Giants after suffering a concussion in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Houston also added a hand injury to the report during the week, and Blankenship was ruled out. His status for the next game is still unclear.
Jaelan Phillips was also unavailable in Week 7, missing the Panthers’ game with a hamstring injury. Carolina plays the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, and Phillips was listed as questionable heading into that one. He’s up to 2.5 sacks this season for the Panthers.
Nakobe Dean, meanwhile, gave the Raiders at least one bright moment in a rough week. After opening the season with turnovers in each of the first three games as Las Vegas went 3-0, Dean had gone three straight games without forcing one.
That changed against the Los Angeles Rams, when he picked off Matthew Stafford. It didn’t change the outcome, though, because the Raiders dropped their fourth straight game.
Jahan Dotson’s day with the Falcons was much quieter than the recent surge had suggested. He had topped 50 receiving yards in back-to-back games before Atlanta’s upset win over the San Francisco 49ers, but this time he finished with just one catch for six yards. Dotson now has 12 receptions for 242 yards and two touchdowns in seven games, and he’s still on pace to outdo his Philadelphia numbers, even if the momentum has slowed.
Alex Singleton delivered the biggest statistical punch of the group. In Denver’s Week 7 win over the Arizona Cardinals, he piled up an NFL-high 19 tackles and added a sack. Singleton now leads the league with 87 tackles and 43 solo tackles.
In Other News...
Eagles Loss Exposed A Defensive Line Problem Fans Will Notice
The snap counts from the Eagles Week 7 loss to the Cowboys offered a clear look at how much the defensive front was asked to carry, and how little splash came from that workload. With injuries still shaping the rotation, Philadelphia leaned heavily on its interior linemen and mixed in some role changes across the defense, while rookies and returning players added to the churn in personnel.
Jalen Carters usage stood out in particular, as he was on the field far more than usual but did not turn that volume into the disruptive night the Eagles needed. Jordan Davis was also pushed into a bigger share of the action, and the numbers pointed to a front line that was busy without being especially effective, which only deepens the concern as the defense tries to sort out who can consistently tilt a game in the middle. [Read more 🡒]
Eagles Trade Deadline Reality Just Got Hard To Ignore
A fifth straight loss has pushed Philadelphia into a trade-deadline conversation it probably did not want to be having this early, but it is now impossible to ignore. Around the league, the Eagles are being viewed as possible sellers, with attention turning to players whose contract situations make them easier to move if the front office decides the season has tilted too far in the wrong direction. Moro Ojomo, Riq Woolen, Dallas Goedert and Kelee Ringo have all been floated as names to watch, and the logic is straightforward: if the Eagles are going to retool, expiring deals are the cleanest path to future draft capital.
Hollywood Brown belongs in that same uncomfortable mix, especially after he was a healthy scratch against the Panthers. The sense is that Philadelphia is at least willing to listen on players who may not fit its long-term plan, even if that means entertaining decisions that would have seemed hard to imagine before the losing streak. What happens next will say plenty about how aggressively the Eagles want to protect the present versus cashing in pieces for the future, and that balance may not be easy to strike with the deadline closing in. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Took One Extra Shot At The Eagles After That Win
Dallas left Lincoln Financial Field with more than a win in Week 7, and the postgame mood said plenty about how the Cowboys viewed it. After snapping a two-game losing streak with a 38-21 victory over the Eagles, the visitors carried that momentum back to the locker room and into a celebration that made the rivalry feel even sharper.
Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer pointed to the teams positive energy after the game, while also stressing the need to keep the focus on Arizona next. For Philadelphia, the result already stung on the field, but the added swipe afterward only gave the loss a little more edge heading into the next round of NFC East business. [Read more 🡒]