October 16, 2020
Kate Frese/for PhillyVoice
Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson stretches before a recent game.
The Philadelphia Eagles' injury list is long, as usual, heading into their matchup against the very healthy Baltimore Ravens. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Birds are 7.5-point consensus underdogs on Sunday, according to TheLines.com.
Here's the final Friday Eagles-Ravens injury report, with analysis.
• RT Lane Johnson (ankle): It feels a lot like Johnson's ankle injury is going to be a nuisance to him for the rest of his career. Jack Driscoll will very likely start in his place at RT.
• WR DeSean Jackson (hamstring): It took just two and a half games for Jackson to go down with an injury. He injured his hamstring during the second quarter of the Eagles' tie with the Bengals, and he did not return. The Eagles' decision not to address the wide receiver position in free agency, instead relying on Jackson to stay healthy, didn't make sense then, and it was easily predictable that Jackson is already missing time.
On a side note, Robby Anderson, who was available in free agency into April, is currently fourth in the NFL with 489 receiving yards.
• WR Alshon Jeffery (foot): Last week, Doug Pederson said the team was hoping Jeffery could get practice reps, but a non-COVID illness prevented that, and that as a result he would be out against the Steelers. This week, he'll miss another game, but this time with his original foot injury, lol.
To note, if the Eagles had kept Jeffery on the PUP list to start the regular season, he would have been out the first six weeks of the season, at which point he could have been activated for Week 7. He will already miss 6 weeks, so he has occupied a roster spot all season so far for no good reason.
• CB Avonte Maddox (ankle): Maddox was unable to return to the game after suffering an ankle injury against the Bengals. He was replaced initially by Trevor Williams, who is now on IR, and more recently by corner-turned-safety-turned-corner Jalen Mills. Maddox at least participated in practice this week for the first time since that injury, but he's still out.
• LB Duke Riley (ribs): Riley got injured on his forced fumble of Eric Ebron last Sunday in Pittsburgh. With Riley and T.J. Edwards out, we'll likely see more of rookie Shaun Bradley this Sunday.
• S Marcus Epps (rib): Epps goes down at the same time that Will Parks is healthy again.
• CB Darius Slay (concussion): If Slay can't go, the Eagles will be down both starting corners, so basically, just like every other season.
• RG Matt Pryor: Pryor was originally listed as "out" with an "illness." The Eagles later said Pryor is on the COVID list, Friday news dump style. Jamon Brown will start in his place.
• WR Jalen Reagor (short-term IR): Reagor tore the UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in his thumb. We covered his potential timeline for return in greater detail here. In a lost season, Reagor's development might have been some kind of silver lining, but the Eagles can't even get that, for now.
• TE Dallas Goedert (short-term IR): Goedert has a broken bone in his ankle, which is actually better than a high ankle sprain, but he'll still miss around 2 months of the season.
• LG Isaac Seumalo (short-term IR): With Seumalo out "for the foreseeable future," per Doug Pederson, the Eagles are without three starting offensive linemen.
• LT Jason Peters (short-term IR): Jordan Mailata played better games against San Francisco and Pittsburgh than Peters has all season.
• LB T.J. Edwards (short-term IR): Not exactly a high bar, but Edwards has been the Eagles' best linebacker so far this season.
• CB Trevor Williams (short-term IR): Williams filled in at corner after Maddox and Craig James went down. After Williams was lost for multiple weeks as well, the team moved Mills back to corner.
• S Rudy Ford (short term IR): Special teamer only, but has been playing well this season in his role.
• LT Andre Dillard (season-ending IR): Dillard struggled mightily as a rookie, and he came into camp as a clear player of interest, as he was poised to start at LT this season. He was up and down in camp, with the "down" moments being very alarming. Dillard injured his biceps, and is done for the season.
• TE Josh Perkins (season-ending IR): He was better than Richard Rodgers?
• RG Brandon Brooks (PUP): Brooks is in the conversation for 'best RG in the NFL," so obviously, losing him for the entire season hurts.
• DE Daeshon Hall (PUP): Hall tore an ACL on the final play of the 2019 regular season, because Pat Shurmur was calling timeouts to preserve every last minute of his NFL head coaching career.
The Ravens have a bunch of players listed as questionable. However, the three players of major importance -- LT Ronnie Stanley, CB Marcus Peters, and CB Jimmy Smith -- were all full participants in practice, so they are likely to go.
Game status vs. Eagles: pic.twitter.com/u92yU2dW5v
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) October 16, 2020
• CB Tavon Young (IR): Former Temple product has been a good slot corner with the Ravens when available, but he has struggled to stay healthy. He tore his ACL Week 2.
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