The Eagles have released their first injury report of the week ahead of this Sunday’s Super Bowl 52 rematch with the New England Patriots.
The good news is, this is the shortest the list has been in quite some time. The bad news is, the two names who didn’t participate in practice are noteworthy.
Nigel Bradham has been battling an ankle injury but is expected to practice at some stage this week. The starting linebacker has missed the last three games and with Zach Brown out of the equation, it’s left the team’s linebacker group sorely low on depth.
Nate Gerry’s bumpy season continues to be highlighted as he takes on more responsibility with Bradham sidelined, while UDFA T.J Edwards continues to see more playing time alongside Kamu Grugier-Hill.
Bradham has 17 solo tackles and 1 interception on the season. The good news is, Pederson is optimistic about his potential return this week.
“Nigel we’ll get out there, probably not so in practice, but he’ll run on land obviously. He is feeling better, so again [I’m] optimistic that there’s a chance for this game.”
Alshon Jeffery’s presence on this report is concerning. The #1 wideout has struggled this season and is coming off of a game where he set a new career-high in drops. Pederson remained confident in the wideout who recently had his 2020 salary guaranteed, however, doubling down on what he brings to the table in his press conference today.
“He’s a guy that gives of himself to the team. That’s who Alshon is. He doesn’t gripe or complain. He does battle through injury. He’s battled through it his whole career. He’s battled through it here. He’s a tough kid.
We continue to game plan. We game plan for him every week. Again, it’s my job to try to dial up as many plays as I can for him.”
If Jeffery is unable to play (bear in mind he did play through a torn rotator cuff for the entire 2017 season), then we could expect one of three things.
Jordan Matthews taking potential WR1 reps or Nelson Agholor moving outside, bumping JMatt into his original slot role.
The alternative is rookie J.J Arcega-Whiteside finally seeing some action. It’s unlikely, but you never know…this may be the week.
Cre’Von LeBlanc is eligible to come off IR but hasn’t as of yet, while Avonte Maddox is no longer listed on the injury report.
The best news here though is that DT Timmy Jernigan is fully healthy after making his return against the Bears. This is huge given the total lack of depth the team have behind Fletcher Cox right now and the Mountain they have to climb.
On offense, Jordan Matthews being limited is worth noting, but shouldn’t cause any alarm bells to ring. It’s also a positive sign seeing Jason Peters back in action after recently undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. There’s no need to hurry him back into action with Andre Dillard holding down the fort as well as he is.
The Eagles will drop their next injury report at around the same time tomorrow.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
