The Eagles won’t get Eli Stowers on the field in Week 1 after all. Philadelphia placed the rookie tight end on injured reserve Saturday, ending any chance of his debut against the Washington Commanders and forcing him out for at least the first four games.
The team announced the move on X, saying, “We have downgraded TE Eli Stowers to out for tomorrow’s game with quadriceps and hamstring injuries. He has been placed on the Injured Reserve List.” Philadelphia also elevated WR Britain Covey for the game.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported the downgrade first and noted that the IR designation would keep Stowers out for the opening month. He later pointed out the abrupt shift from Friday’s confidence to Saturday’s medical update, writing that Stowers had been telling reporters he expected to play before the quad injury was added to the hamstring issue.
That Friday optimism was real. Stowers had worked in a limited capacity from Wednesday through Friday and entered the final injury report as questionable. He said, “I believe [I’m playing], that’s the plan,” according to Heavy, and Inquirer beat writer Jeff McLane posted the same sentiment on X.
The weekend turned fast. NBC Sports Philadelphia reported that after Stowers mentioned new discomfort, imaging revealed a quadriceps strain in addition to the hamstring injury. That combination moved the Eagles from a cautious game-day call to an IR decision.
The timing matters because of the NFL’s injured reserve rules. Once a player goes on IR at this point in the season, he has to miss at least four games.
For Stowers, that means sitting out Sunday against Washington, then Week 2 at Tennessee, Week 3 at Chicago, and Week 4 at home against the Rams. The earliest he can return is Week 5 on Oct. 11 at Jacksonville in London, though the team doesn’t have to activate him the moment he becomes eligible.
Stowers’ road to this point had already been uneven. The hamstring issue dated back to late August, when Zach Berman of The Athletic first listed him as a non-participant.
Sports Illustrated later tied the original strain to joint work with the New England Patriots. CBS Sports had Stowers as questionable entering the final injury report, so the IR move came after a week that still seemed to be trending toward availability.
Philadelphia drafted Stowers 54th overall in April out of Vanderbilt, where he made the leap from quarterback to tight end and won the 2025 John Mackey Award after catching 62 passes for 769 yards and four touchdowns. His college line also included 1,890 all-purpose yards, with 1,773 receiving and 117 rushing.
But the preseason didn’t exactly force the issue. Stowers caught three of five preseason targets for 12 yards, and one Aug. 26 camp report from PhillyVoice’s Jimmy Kempski said he hadn’t shown the same burst that appeared at the combine, looked tentative as a blocker, and wasn’t making many catches downfield. Kempski’s blunt take was, “Stowers is unplayable.”
That was a camp evaluation, not a team verdict, but it does help explain the Eagles’ comfort level with waiting. Dallas Goedert remains the headliner at tight end, Johnny Mundt is the veteran blocker, and E.J.
Jenkins is another option. Grant Calcaterra is already on IR, leaving Goedert, Mundt, and Jenkins as the active tight ends for Sunday.
Philadelphia also elevated Britain Covey for return duties.
Stowers was drafted as a mismatch weapon, the kind of player who could flex into the slot and stress defenses rather than live as a finished in-line blocker. Sitting out four games won’t help him close that gap, but it also doesn’t change the long view on the traits that made him a second-round pick in the first place.
He seemed to understand that on Friday, before the quad issue surfaced. “Everybody’s road and development, it’s different for every single person,” he said, per NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Sunday’s opener kicks off at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX. Stowers won’t be on the field for it, and the first chance he has to get back is October.
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