By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor
The Eagles suffered a slew of injuries that certainly contributed to the the team losing their first game of the 2019 season on Sunday night against the Falcons.
It was already announced that Tim Jernigan, who just took over for Malik Jackosn, would be out for 4-6 weeks, but the team’s receiving corps was also severely depleted Sunday night.
The picture of that unit is starting too look a bit clearer moving forward, though not neccessarily better.
Tim McManus of ESPN reports that it is an abdominal strain that will sideline DeSean Jackson for two weeks.
DeSean Jackson has an abdominal strain that is expected to sideline him for about two weeks, according to sources.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) September 17, 2019
Combine that with the news from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network from yesterday that Alshon has a minor calf sprain and is in doubt for the next two games, and the Eagles are in rough shape.
#Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery is dealing with a calf strain, source said, following Sunday night football. It’s not major, but with two games in 10 days, the timing is bad. His status for those is in some doubt.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2019
The wildcard without an official update here is tight end Dallas Goedert.
Goedert could help to alleviate the loss of the Eagles top two wideouts by adding a reliable target for Wentz, but he also missed the game Sunday night with a re-injured calf and he might also be unable to play.
With both receivers out, the team may look to make a move like cutting/waiving a player like Matt Pryor or Rudy Ford, who have had minimal impact on the team thus far, or someone like LJ Fort, who is keeping the team from receiving a fourth-round compensatory pick and has not played a single defensive snap despite one of the Eagles starting linebackers being injured for the first two games of the season.
The most likely players to take a spot that would be opened are Greg Ward Jr. being promoted from the practice squad or Jordan Matthews being signed as a free agent, much like last season
The Eagles did promote Alex Ellis from the practice squad today at the expense of CB Craig James. That will provide a backup right end and another target for Wentz.
The Eagles next two match-ups will be at home against the Detroit Lions and then at the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. It is pretty clear that the Packers will be the more difficult team to beat of those two, so keeping Jackson and Jeffery out of the Lions game to try and be sure they are ready for the Packers game may be the ideal route for the Eagles to take.