The Philadelphia Eagles announced on Tuesday evening that they have placed both Brandon Graham and Brandon Brooks on IR. They poached a Bills offensive lineman in a corresponding move, while bringing back a familiar face to the practice squad. Here’s all you need to know.
The Eagles suffered heartbreak at the weekend. The loss against San Francisco was tough to take, but losing Brandon Graham to a season-ending injury was harder. The veteran came out shortly after and stated he’ll be doing all he can to help the team in spite of his injury, but there’s no questioning his loss will be tough to stomach.
As for Brooks, a pectoral injury will keep him out for some time, although Nick Sirianni mentioned on Monday that it won’t keep him out for the entirety of the season. The Eagles did sign someone in his place though.
Enter Jack Anderson, whom the team poached from the Bills practice squad. Surprisingly, Anderson was drafted in the seventh-round by Buffalo in this year’s NFL Draft. He played his collegiate ball at Texas Tech, meaning he specialized in pass-protection. Surprisingly, he was actually Buffalo’s highest graded rookie during the preseason according to PFF.
The Eagles do have options on the inside to start in place of Brooks. Nate Herbig looked solid last season during his time relieving the injured guard, and the team of course drafted Landon Dickerson in the second round this year, who is now on the active roster. It’s assumed that Sirianni will be patient with Dickerson given that he was unable to participate in any of the offseason workouts, so dropping him into the deep end would be less than ideal.
It’s likely that Anderson was signed as an emergency option, although he could be waived and placed on the practice squad if the team deem the roster spot better suited to another position, such as tight end.
The Eagles had to place Zach Ertz on the COVID list yesterday and have welcomed back veteran Richard Rodgers to the practice squad. Rodgers is now entering his fifth stint with the team, having failed to make the roster this offseason. Last year as a stand-in for Ertz and Goedert, he averaged 14.4 yards per reception with 16 of those catches going for 1st downs and two of them going for touchdowns. 2020 was the most productive season that Rodgers had since 2015.
It will be interesting to see how many roster moves the team makes between now and Monday night’s matchup with the Cowboys.
(Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
