October 14, 2021
The Philadelphia Eagles will head into their Thursday night matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers without three offensive line starters, Brandon Graham, and TE Dallas Goedert. They'll face a Tampa Bay Bucs team that will be without a couple of starting cornerbacks, a starting linebacker, and a starting safety.
Here are the Eagles' and Bucs' inactives, with analysis.
• RT Lane Johnson: Johnson remains out with his personal matter. The Eagles' OL configuration in Charlotte last week was as follows:
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Andre Dillard | Landon Dickerson | Jason Kelce | Jack Driscoll | Jordan Mailata |
It should be the same once again against the Bucs.
Otherwise, it's the same four inactives as the team had on Sunday — QB Gardner Minshew, DT Marlon Tuipulotu, CB Mac McCain, and iOL Jack Anderson.
• TE Dallas Goedert: In order for Goedert to play on Thursday night, he would have needed to (a) produce two negative tests 24 hours apart, and (b) exhibit no COVID symptoms for 48 hours. That didn't happen. He's out.
As we noted in our five matchups to watch, the Eagles were in a position to use their TEs heavily against a defense missing LB Lavonte David, and S Antoine Winfield still in the concussion protocol. They'll need a big game out of Zach Ertz.
• OG Sua Opeta: Opeta has been on the COVID list for a couple weeks now.
• DE Brandon Graham (IR): Graham's season is over with a ruptured Achilles. On the field, Graham was arguably the Eagles' best defensive player in 2020. It's clear since his loss that the Eagles miss his contributions as a pass rusher and run stopper, and the Eagles have not been able to adequately replace him. Off the field, Graham has unlimited energy and positivity, and he is a player that you just want to have around if you're a head coach in the NFL.
• RG Brandon Brooks (IR): Brooks suffered a pectoral injury against the 49ers. It's "only" a pec strain, as opposed to a tear, so while he'll likely miss time (about 8 weeks, per Lane Johnson) on injured reserve, it's not a season-ending injury.
• LG Isaac Seumalo (IR): Seumalo was carted off the field in the Eagles' loss to the Cowboys. His season is over after having surgery for a Lisfranc injury.
• S K'Von Wallace (IR): Wallace separated his shoulder while trying to tackle Ezekiel Elliott in the first quarter against the Cowboys. He left the field and did not return. He'll be out at least three weeks on IR. Rodney McLeod has since returned to the starting lineup.
• TE Tyree Jackson (IR): Jackson suffered a broken bone in his back during joint practices with the New England Patriots. The injury did not require surgery, and his recovery period at the time was deemed by the team to be 8-10 weeks. That was seven weeks ago, so (checks math) Jackson should be back 1-3 weeks from now.
• TE Rob Gronkowski: You all know who Gronk is. 16 catches, 184 yards, 4 TDs in 3 games this season.
• LB Lavonte David: Tenth-year starting linebacker for the Bucs. 34 tackles, 2 pass breakups, and 1 sack for Tampa in 2020. Kevin Minter will likely fill in.
• S Antoine Winfield: Good, young starting safety. In 2020 as a rookie, Winfield had 94 tackles, 6 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles, 3 sacks, and an INT. Mike Edwards started in place of Winfield Week 5 against the Dolphins.
Also inactive for the Bucs: QB Kyle Trask, WR Jaelon Darden, and OG Nick Leverett.
• CB Carlton Davis: Davis is a starting corner for the Bucs. He led the team a year ago with 4 INTs. As we noted in our five matchups to watch, the Bucs have been banged up at CB all year, and currently have two starters on IR. To help fill their holes at CB, they signed Richard Sherman, whose best years are behind him.
• CB Sean Murphy-Bunting: Murphy-Bunting is the Bucs' starting slot corner, and he's one of the best in the NFL. He'll likely be replaced by 30-year-old journeyman Ross Cockrell.
• WR Scotty Miller: 5'9, 174-pound slot receiver, but one who makes big plays. Career 14.8 YPC. 33-501-3 in 2020.
Follow Jimmy & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @JimmyKempski | thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Jimmy's RSS feed to your feed reader
