The Eagles worst fears have been realized. After Rodney McLeod, Corey Graham and Jaylen Watkins all sustained injuries in week two, the trio will be sidelined for the home opener according to an official announcement from the team.
#NYGvsPHI inactives: CB Darby, WR Gibson, S Graham, S McLeod, DE Means, DT Vaeao, S Watkins
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 24, 2017
McLeod was seen warming up earlier today and seemed to be testing out his hamstring by back-pedalling, but all three safeties are indeed inactive. Joining them is rookie wideout Shelton Gibson, an injured Destiny Vaeao and the services of Steven Means.
So what does this mean for the Eagles secondary? Besides Malcolm Jenkins, the Eagles are left with Chris Maragos who is yet to feature on Defense this year, and recently signed former Bills Safety Trae Elston, who saw his first NFL action on special teams over the first two weeks for Buffalo.
It’s likely that the team will rely on the likes of Patrick Robinson to fall back into coverage, or potentially even linebacker Kamu-Grugier Hill, whom Jim Schwartz seemed comfortable with pushing into the last line of Defense when asked earlier this week.
“He’s a guy that could do it,” The Eagles Defensive coordinator told reporters. “We were gassing him up on the sideline getting him ready to potentially do that.”
It’s unclear just how the Eagles will broach such a huge setback, but the decisions that are made in the next hour or so could have a huge impact on the outcome of the game.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
