October 27, 2024
The Philadelphia Eagles listed seven players on their initial injury report ahead of their Week 8 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, and will be without two starters. The Bengals are mostly healthy, as they listed four players on their initial injury report, but had a late-week addition in WR Tee Higgins, who will not play.
Here are the Eagles' and Bengals' inactives, with analysis.
Tanner McKee will be the emergency quarterback.
• TE Dallas Goedert: Grant Calcaterra gets another start while Goedert's hamstring heals.
• RG Mekhi Becton: Becton has not yet recovered from a concussion suffered against the Giants. Tyler Steen has played well whenever he has been called upon, and he will start in place of Becton.
• OG Trevor Keegan: The rookie fifth-round pick had a solid training camp, but for now he is a guard only, and thus not super helpful for versatility's sake on gameday.
The backup offensive linemen will be Jack Driscoll, Darrian Kinnard, and Nick Gates.
• CB Eli Ricks: Ricks has only been active for two games.
• LT Jordan Mailata: After injuring his hamstring against the Browns Week 7, Mailata stayed on the ground for while, before getting helped off the field by teammate Landon Dickerson and a trainer. He struggled putting weight on his left leg. After getting examined in the medical tent, Mailata was carted off the field. His injury seemed serious, so a trip to IR last week was not surprising. He will miss at least the next three games. Backup swing tackle Fred Johnson started in place of Mailata at LT against the Giants Week 8. Johnson struggled early in that game, but seemed to eventually settle in. He is expected to start once again against the Bengals Week 8.
• WR Britain Covey (IR): Covey has been the team's primary punt returner since 2022. He was arguably the best punt returner in the NFL last season. As a receiver, Covey hasn't gotten many opportunities in the regular offense, but he started to get a little bit of a role this season. In the first three games, he had 7 catches for 34 yards. He previously only had 4 catches in the first two years of his NFL career.
• S James Bradberry (IR): The Eagles kept Bradberry on their active roster for no good reason at 53-man cutdowns, and then the next day he suffered a "lower body" injury that will keep him out 6-8 weeks.
• TE Albert Okwuegbunam (IR): The Eagles burned an IR-DFR designation on Okwuegbunam prior to 53-man cutdowns. The Eagles opened his 21-day practice window for return on Wednesday.
WR2 Tee Higgins is out. Higgins forms one of the best WR duos in the NFL along with Ja'Marr Chase. Higgins has 29 catches for 341 yards and 3 TDs so far this season. He injured his quad during practice this week. Andrei Iosivas will be the WR2.
The rest of the Bengals' inactives:
.@KetteringHealth Inactives for #PHIvsCIN pic.twitter.com/qWVn4yltiK
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) October 27, 2024
• CB Dax Hill: Hill was the Bengals' first-round selection in 2022. In 2023, he finished third on the team with 110 tackles and tied for first with 11 pass breakups. He also had 2 INTs and 1.5 sacks. Hill played safety initially for the Bengals, but moved to corner in 2024 and was the Bengals' CB2. His season is over with a torn ACL.
• OT Trent Brown: Brown, a massive 6'8, 380-pound OT, was the starting RT for the Bengals the first three games of the season. Brown's season is over with a patellar tendon tear. The Bengals signed Brown to a one-year deal worth $4.75 million in March, but then selected OT Amarius Mims in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. It was anticipated that Mims would start at RT, and Brown would be the swing tackle, but Brown joined the starting lineup after Mims suffered a pectoral injury in training camp. Mims is healthy now, and starting at RT.
• OT Jaxson Kirkland: Kirkland is the Bengals' fourth OT, so his injury wouldn't normally be notable, but with Orlando Brown hurt and Trent Brown done for the season, the Bengals are very thin at offensive tackle. Kirkland's season is over with a biceps tear.
• DE Cam Sample: Rotational DE. Fourth-round pick in 2021, 5 sacks in 3 seasons. He tore his Achilles in training camp, season over.
MORE: Eagles Week 8 power ranking roundup
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