Injury Report: Saints at Eagles

Embed from Getty Images

By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles are coming off a fairly dominant win over the Denver Broncos and have their eyes now set on a real chance at making the playoffs.

Standing in the way are the New Orleans Saints.

The Saints will be coming to Philly and down a few critical players on their roster while the Eagles do expect the recently extended Dallas Goedert back again this week.

Injury Report

Eagles

Out

Anderson is depth and unlikely to play if he was healthy (he has not yet played a snap for the Eagles), so his absence will most likely go unnoticed by most fans.

Questionable

Taylor has taken on a larger role and has started the last five games. He and TJ Edwards have been a bright spot for the linebacking corps once changes were made to that lineup. He has 40 and two forced fumbles across 243 defensive snaps. While Alex Singleton and Shaun Bradley have also been decent, the problem remains coverage in the linebacking corps and outside Taylor, the biggest issue with the Eagles young linebackers is their speed in coverage. That loss could hurt the Eagles, but it’s also worth noting that, for some reason, Taylor is often not used in coverage in favor of one of the other guys so there has been some cross training going on there that might help ease the loss if Taylor cannot go.

Barnett is suffering from a sudden neck injury. While many fans may initially feel like this is a good thing because they are upset with his penalties, Barnett actually registered some good pressures last weak and had a very weak roughing the passer call turn what should have been his second sack on the day into a first down. While he has made some bonehead plays, that was not one of them and if he can keep that play up moving forward it would be big for Philly.

Saints

Out

The starting left tackle and one of the game’s top options, Armstead is a major loss. Rookie Calvin Throckmorton has played extensively this season and his versatility may come into play again this week for him to take over.

Worsening the OL woes for the Saints is that their starting right tackle is out, too. Jordan Mills, an eight year veteran who’s played seven games over he past three seasons, would seem to be the next man up.

Perhaps the most meaningful absence for the Birds is the All-Pro running back with 840 yards and seven touchdowns on the season. Gannon’s defensive scheme has yet to adjust well to stop running backs and tight ends in the passing game and while second running back Mark Ingram is no slouch, he is far less dangerous in that passing game, so the Eagles will be happy to have the Saints more focused on a power rushing game with Ingram playing a majority of the snaps.

Montgomery plays a fair amount of snaps and is a key special teamer, but has just 54 yards on the season and plays more of a role in the blocking game than he does in the receiving department.

The primary rotational defensive tackle on paper, Roach has played just 14 snaps over the past five, soon to be six, weeks. The Saints interior defensive line has learned to operate without him at this point.

The Saints sack leader with four, Kpassagnon also has 18 tackles and a forced fumble this year. He has taken on a larger role in the defense but has struggled to stay on the field for the previous two games. The defensive rotation will take a hit but the combo of Davenport and Jordan is nothing to be taken lightly.

Questionable

Trevor Siemian is the starter (or replacement starter with Jameis Winston on IR), but Hill is the backup and would be the next man up if something were to happen to Siemian. Perhaps more likely is Hill’s involvement as a receiver/runner or even a situational passer for more gadget-type plays. His absence would make the Saints offense just that much more vanilla.