October 01, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles' Week 3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the first game this season during which the team did not suffer an injury resulting in an important player landing on injured reserve, though a pair of safeties in Justin Evans and Sydney Brown did get banged up. In Week 4, they'll face the relatively healthy Washington Commanders.
Here are the Eagles' and Commanders' inactives, with analysis.
Tanner McKee will be the Eagles' "emergency quarterback," while P Braden Mann and S Tristin McCollum will be practice squad call-ups for this game. TE Albert Okwuegbunam is active for the first time in his Eagles career.
• WR Quez Watkins: Olamide Zaccheaus will start in the slot.
• S Justin Evans: Evans has been a starter in each of the Eagles' first three games. Terrell Edmunds will likely start at safety opposite Reed Blankenship.
• S Sydney Brown: Brown had an elevated role for the Eagles Week 3 against the Buccaneers, as he got reps in the slot.
• RB Rashaad Penny: Penny got zero snaps Week 3 against the Buccaneers with Boston Scott out.
• OT Tyler Steen: Fred Johnson was a long shot to make the team to begin training camp, but he played his way onto the roster and was up Week 1 in favor of Steen. That has remained the case Weeks 2 through 4.
• iDL Moro Ojomo: Ojomo was disruptive in the preseason, but the Eagles went with the veteran Kentavius Street in the first three games. Street gets the nod again. (I'd go Ojomo, if anyone cares.)
• LB Nakobe Dean: After 2022 starting linebackers T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White left in free agency, Dean became the team's top linebacker, with added responsibilities as the "green dot" helmet wearer, relaying the play calls from Sean Desai to the rest of the defense.
Dean did not stand out in a good or bad way throughout the first few weeks of training camp, and he missed some time with an injury. However, he made a big play when he forced a goal line fumble in the Eagles' second preseason game against the Browns, and he was very active and around the ball a lot in joint practices against the Colts. He closed camp on a high note. In the Eagles' first game against the Patriots, he injured his foot and landed on injured reserve. He'll be eligible to return to the field Week 6 against the Jets.
The Eagles only have three other off-ball linebackers on their 53-man roster. They are Zach Cunningham, Nicholas Morrow, and Christian Elliss. Morrow has worn the "green dot" helmet in Dean's absence, and he has played surprisingly well.
• CB Avonte Maddox: Maddox is had surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. His season is likely over.
The oft-injured Maddox missed games at three different junctures during the season in 2022:
Maddox also missed three games in 2018, four games in 2019, and six games in 2020. He is one of the best slot corners in the NFL when healthy, but it seems there will always be durability concerns.
Slot corner is a position where the Eagles don't have proven depth. In Maddox's absence against the Vikings, 2022 UDFA Mario Goodrich filled in and played 39 snaps. That was the first regular season action of Goodrich's career. In Week 3 against the Buccaneers, Goodrich was a healthy scratch, and slot duties were split between James Bradberry and Sydney Brown.
Washington inactives:
Washington Inactives:
— Washington Commanders PR (@Wash_PR) October 1, 2023
No. 23 RB Chris Rodriguez
No. 55 DE K.J. Henry
No. 73 T Trent Scott
No. 75 G Chris Paul
No. 80 TE Curtis Hodges
No. 86 WR Mitchell Tinsley
Noting notable there.
The Commanders have 12 players on injured reserve, but none of them are starters and only a handful are even role players.
As we noted in our five matchups to watch, the Commanders have a very talented starting foursome up front in DTs Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne to go along with DEs Montez Sweat and Chase Young. However, they do not have good D-line depth to begin with, and will be further depleted with three reserve linemen on IR. We'll lump these three guys together:
The rest of the semi-notable names:
• TE Armani Rogers: Rogers is a former quarterback turned tight end who was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent last year. He made the team and made five catches on the season. With a shaky group at tight end, there was some thinking that Rogers could make a leap in Year 2 and become a factor in the Commanders' offense, but he tore his Achilles in OTAs, ending his season.
• iOL Braeden Daniels (IR): Versatile rookie fourth-round pick. I happened to notice reports this summer from the Commanders' beats that he was struggling in camp.
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