DeVonta Smith has been cleared for contact. The $75 million wide receiver logged a full week of practices, locking him into a starting slot opposite A.J. Brown in Week 14. That headlined the positives on the Eagles‘ final injury report.
DeVonta Smith is good to go for Sunday
Smith had been dealing with a nagging hamstring issue, one that caused him to miss back-to-back games against Los Angeles and Baltimore. The 26-year-old told reporters earlier this week to “count me in” when asked if he was going to suit up. Smith has 41 receptions for 516 yards and four touchdowns in nine games so far this season.
The Eagles have struggled to account for his absence, although the passing game has been an afterthought behind Saquon Barkley‘s spaceship. Even so, head coach Nick Sirianni expressed excitement over Smith’s return to the lineup.
“Obviously DeVonta is a great football player who has contributed so much to this offense and this team over the past four seasons,” Sirianni told reporters on December 6. “Any time you have an ability to get a guy like that back into the lineup, that’s big for your team. That is harder for the opposing team. He is a great player. He’s a great teammate.”
Eagles Injury report
Meanwhile, the Eagles ruled four players out due to injury: Reed Blankenship (concussion), Sydney Brown (knee), Dallas Goedert (knee), and Britain Covey (neck). Blankenship’s absence will open the door for Tristan McCollum to make his first career start at safety, with Grant Calcaterra filling in at tight end for Goedert. Cooper DeJean should continue to handle the punt return duties in place of Covey.
Speaking of Barkley, the MVP candidate skipped Wednesday’s walkthrough and chalked it up to a rest day. It’s not like he really needed those extra mental reps. Barkley is on pace to shatter the franchise’s single-season rushing record. He needs only 109 yards to break LeSean McCoy‘s mark of 1,607 yards which the Eagles Hall of Famer set way back in 2013. Barkley is on pace for 2,123 yards this year. Incredible.
“Any time in a storied program like this, a franchise like this, where you can set records, that’s always awesome,” Sirianni said of Barkley potentially breaking the record. “So potentially overtaking one of the greatest running backs to play here. If not the greatest running back to play here, and one of the great running backs that’s played in the league.”
Eagles Not Overlooking Carolina Panthers
Everyone knows the Panthers don’t pose much of a threat to the Eagles. They own one of the worst records in football at 3-9 and enter this one riding a two-game losing streak. Still, they did put up valiant efforts against Kansas City (losing 30-27) and Tampa Bay (losing 26-23). Nick Sirianni is refusing to let his team think that Carolina won’t put up a fight.
“The message has been consistent. The message this week has been just to continue playing with relentless effort,” Sirianni told reporters. “That’s what we talked about this week. But we know that we have a good football team coming in here that’s been in some games over the past month of the season, that’s continuing to get better. Our mission is to continue to get better. I can see the Panthers continue to get better. There are a lot of good players over there. They have our attention.”
Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
