December 29, 2024
Jerome Miron/Imagn Images
The Eagles won't have to worry about Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb on Sunday.
The Philadelphia Eagles listed six players (not including resting players) on their initial injury report ahead of their Week 17 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys listed 12 players on their initial injury report (again, not including resting players), but they also have a bunch of their best and most important players on injured reserve.
Here are the Eagles' and Cowboys' inactives, with analysis...
On Saturday the Eagles signed QB Ian Book to the active roster, activated DE Bryce Huff from IR, elevated RB Tyrion Davis-Price and LB Dallas Gant for the game, waived DE Charles Harris, and placed WR Britain Covey on IR.
Book will be the Eagles' emergency quarterback.
• QB Jalen Hurts: In case you've been living under a rock this week, Hurts won't play against the Cowboys. Kenny Pickett will get the start.
• LB Nakobe Dean: When Dean was injured against the Commanders last Sunday Oren Burks filled in. Expect Burks to start against the Cowboys.
• RB Will Shipley: Shipley was concussed on a special teams play last Sunday. As noted above, Davis-Price will be the RB3 against the Cowboys.
• 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 Fred Johnson, Tyler Steen, and Jack Driscoll.
• OL Darrian Kinnard: Kinnard has only been active for one game.
• TE Dallas Goedert (IR): Goedert has 38 catches on 46 targets for 441 yards and 2 TDs this season. He doesn't have high volume stats, but he has been an efficient receiver when the ball has come his way, averaging 9.6 yards per target. Grant Calcaterra has started in Goedert's absence, and E.J. Jenkins was promoted from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.
Goedert is eligible to return from IR after the Eagles' matchup with the Cowboys.
• EDGE Brandon Graham (IR): Graham tore his left triceps in the Eagles' win over the Rams. Before the season, Graham said that the 2024 season, his 15th in the NFL, would be his last. He played very well, and was arguably the team's best edge defender. Graham finished with 20 tackles and 3.5 sacks, with his stats not truly showing his actual impact, as has been the case throughout his career.
• WR/RS Britain Covey (IR): Covey was previously on IR with a shoulder injury. He returned from that injury and played in games, but landed on IR once again with a neck injury. Cooper DeJean will return punts.
• FB Ben VanSumeren (IR): VanSumeren was a core special teams player and linebacker who became a fullback for the Eagles this season, and looked pretty good in that role. He suffered a lower-body injury during practice and landed on IR.
Nothing super noteworthy here:
Cowboys inactives today vs. Eagles:
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) December 29, 2024
Kemon Hall
Deuce Vaughn
T.J. Bass
Matt Waletzko
Princeton Fant
Tyrus Wheat
Justin Rogers
Again, most of the Cowboys' best players are on IR (shown below).
• QB Dak Prescott (IR): In the Cowboys' loss to the Falcons Week 9, Prescott injured his hamstring while throwing. His season is over.
Prescott signed the richest contract in NFL history just before the start of the 2024 season. He missed the Cowboys' matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles Week 10, with Cooper Rush filling in. Rush was 13 for 23 for an almost impossibly low 45 yards in a blowout defeat. He was eventually replaced by Trey Lance, who went 4 of 6 for 21 yards, 0 TDs, and one INT.
The Cowboys weren't a very good football team in eight games with Prescott, as they started 3-5. They are a worse team without him, though Rush is 4-3 this season with 11 TDs vs. 3 INTs.
Excluding meaningless final regular season games in which either team rested starters, Prescott has a 7-3 lifetime record against the Eagles. The Eagles now have a 3-1 record against the Cowboys during the Prescott era when Prescott has missed the game due to injury:
• Week 8, 2020: The Eagles beat Ben DiNucci in Philly.
• Week 16, 2020: The Eagles lost to Andy Dalton in Dallas.
• Week 6, 2022: The Eagles beat Cooper Rush in Philly.
• Week 10, 2024: The Eagles beat Rush in Dallas.
The Eagles will get another crack at Rush Week 17.
• WR CeeDee Lamb (IR): The Cowboys decided to shut Lamb down for the season after they were eliminated from playoff contention. He had been playing through a shoulder injury. Lamb had 101 catches for 1194 yards and 6 TDs this season. He has 721 more receiving yards than any other player on the Cowboys' roster.
• CB Trevon Diggs (IR): Diggs needs bone graft surgery on his left knee. His season is over, and he likely won't be ready for the start of the 2025 season.
Diggs has five career INTs in five NFL seasons against the Eagles.
• RG Zack Martin (IR): Martin has been the Cowboys' starting RG since they selected him with the 16th overall pick in the 2014 draft. He has nine Pro Bowls under his belt as well as nine All-Pro nods (7 first-team, 2 second-team), though he was not the same player in 2024 while battling an assortment of injuries. Martin has been replaced in the lineup by 2022 UDFA Brock Hoffman.
• DE DeMarcus Lawrence (IR): The Cowboys placed Lawrence on IR with a Lisfranc injury on Oct. 1. At the time, his injury was projected to keep him out 4-8 weeks. The Cowboys are reportedly shutting Lawrence down for the season.
Lawrence is something of the Cowboys' version of Brandon Graham, in that he has had a good, long career, but has lacked elite sack numbers. (I suppose one big difference is that Graham made one of the most important plays in his team's history, and Lawrence hasn't.)
• DE Sam Williams (IR): During training camp, the Cowboys lost Williams for the season with a torn ACL and a partially torn MCL in his left knee. Williams was a Cowboys second-round pick who finished fifth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2022. He had 22 tackles, 4 sacks, and 3 fumble recoveries that season. In 2023, in a crowded edge rusher rotation, he had 26 tackles and 4.5 sacks. In 2024, Williams was poised to take on a bigger role with the Cowboys after they lost Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler in free agency to the Commanders.
• LB DeMarvion Overshown (IR): Overshown missed his rookie season in 2023 with a torn ACL, but he was a breakout player in 2024, collecting 90 tackles, 5 sacks, an INT, a forced fumble, and 4 pass breakups. Overshown shredded his knee against the Bengals, tearing his ACL, MCL, and PCL. His 2024 season is over, and his 2025 season is also in doubt.
• CB Caelen Carson (IR): Carson is a rookie who has had to start five games this season as a result of a bunch of Cowboys injuries at CB. 27 tackles, 4 PBUs, no INTs or FFs.
• S Marquese Bell (IR): S/LB hybrid. South Jersey kid who broke Dallas Goedert's arm last season.
• OL Asim Richards (IR): Backup OL, started against the Eagles Week 10.
MORE: Eagles Week 17 power ranking roundup
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