The Eagles head into Sunday’s Week 2 trip to Tennessee with one obvious hole and one potential one, and the second matters more than the first.
Jonathan Greenard is out again, while Andrew Mukuba is the name that could still change how Vic Fangio lines up the defense at Nissan Stadium. Jalen Carter, meanwhile, is cleared to go despite playing through a wrist issue in a cast.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on FOX, with temperatures expected to sit near the mid-90s in Nashville.
Friday’s final injury report listed six Eagles and only two players with actual game designations. Greenard (pectoral) is out for a second straight week.
Mukuba (knee) is questionable. Carter (wrist), Cooper DeJean (calf/abdomen), Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (hamstring) and Elijah Moore (neck) all have no designation.
The team posted the report on X: “Friday’s Injury Report #PHIvsTEN”
Greenard’s status was never really in doubt once he stayed limited all week. He practiced Wednesday through Friday after the pectoral injury that kept him out of training camp and Week 1, but CBS Philadelphia passed along his own description of where he stood: he was “super close.”
That still wasn’t enough to get him back on the field. Fangio will again have to open without the free-agent edge addition.
Mukuba is the real swing piece. He was a surprise DNP on Thursday because of a left knee issue, then returned on a limited basis Friday.
NFL.com’s Week 2 status board still lists him as the only Eagles player besides Greenard with a designation. If he can’t play, Fangio loses one of the five defenders who never came off the field in the 24-22 win over Washington.
Carter’s wrist is the other key development, and he’s playing through it. He hurt it late in the fourth quarter of Week 1 while punching at the ball on Terry McLaurin, then still logged 66 of 70 defensive snaps. He did not practice Wednesday, returned in a limited role Thursday and Friday, and showed up with a cast on his right wrist.
“Just a minor adjustment, and I’m still out there practicing and ready to play.”
That’s availability, not a promise the wrist is fully comfortable. Fangio leaned on Carter, Moro Ojomo and Jordan Davis inside against Washington, and if the cast affects Carter’s punch or ability to lock out, those snaps have to go somewhere.
Ojomo played 48 snaps in the opener, Davis 34, and Byron Young was in for six. Tony Pollard would be the test in the middle this week.
The edge group is set up to absorb Greenard’s absence. NBC Sports Philadelphia tracked the Week 1 rotation at 53 snaps for Jalyx Hunt, 47 for Nolan Smith, 28 for Arnold Ebiketie and 12 for A.J.
Epenesa. Hunt’s stat line was quiet - three tackles - but he was the main three-down rusher with Greenard already sidelined.
Philadelphia managed only one sack against Jayden Daniels, though Cam Ward brings a different kind of matchup after going 19-of-32 for 140 yards and one touchdown in Tennessee’s 23-10 loss to the Jets. Ward was sacked three times in that game, according to the Titans’ own site.
That’s why Greenard being out is manageable. The Titans’ line didn’t exactly settle things down in Week 1, and a Hunt-Smith-Ebiketie-Epenesa rotation can live with that. The bigger concern is what happens if the Eagles’ offense again leaves the defense on the field for 70 snaps instead of something closer to 55.
The safety situation is where this report gets tighter. Mukuba, Zack Baun, Riq Woolen, Quinyon Mitchell and DeJean all played 70 defensive snaps in Week 1.
Marcus Epps added 53 after briefly leaving with a shoulder issue, and Michael Carter II got six snaps as relief. That’s the entire true-safety picture on the 53 after Andre’ Sam’s season-ending preseason injury.
DeJean can slide back in certain looks, but that’s not his natural home. He’s at his best in the slot, and leaning on him at safety for a full game would change the nickel structure Fangio prefers. On Friday, Nick Sirianni pointed to Carter II’s versatility if Mukuba can’t go, a patch that helps on paper but doesn’t create real depth.
The Eagles also elevated undrafted rookie Maximus Pulley from the practice squad on Saturday, a move that lines up with Mukuba’s status. Pulley, a former Wofford safety, gives them insurance and special teams help, but this isn’t the kind of move that usually changes the defensive plan.
For now, the matchup in front of them is workable if Mukuba plays. Ward’s Week 1 numbers - 4.4 yards per attempt and a longest completion of 14 yards - don’t scream for panic.
The concern is what comes next. Week 3 brings Caleb Williams and a Chicago offense that threw for 269 yards in a 59-37 win at Carolina.
That’s why this knee issue matters more than Greenard missing another week against Tennessee.
Tennessee’s injury report is shorter but still incomplete. Corner Cor’Dale Flott (quad) and linebackers Cedric Gray (concussion) and James Williams (elbow) are all questionable.
The Eagles already have Eli Stowers on injured reserve after a hamstring issue landed him there on Sept. 12, and Landon Dickerson joined him after Week 1. So the Week 2 question is narrow: one edge rusher is out, one safety is uncertain, and the heat in Nashville could make both jobs harder if the game stretches into a long afternoon.
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