Kerryon Johnson Rejoins Eagles Amidst Flurry Of Moves

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles got a bad break on Monday, learning that Miles Sanders would be out for at least the Washington game on Sunday.

At the same time, they released positive, but not decisive news on Jordan Howard’s potential availability moving forward.

If that pair is unable to go, the team would be left with just Boston Scott and Kenny Gainwell, who has been more of a receiver than a rusher for the team.

To no surprise, the Eagles brought in a running back on Tuesday to try and deal with these injuries and it was one of the players we speculated yesterday, Kerryon Johnson.

Roster Moves: Eagles have signed RB Kerryon Johnson and OL Luke Juriga to the practice squad.

The team has also released K Matt McCrane from the practice squad and placed WR John Hightower on the practice squad Reserve/COVID-19 list. pic.twitter.com/8asP48jUbN

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 28, 2021

Johnson was a player who spent time with the Birds in training camp. He was brought in to compete with Jordan Howard for that veteran role. While neither player started the season on the 53-man roster, Howard got the practice squad spot because Johnson suffered an injury and was waived rather than placed on IR.

It was a pretty good bet that Johnson was now healthy because he spent almost a month on the 49ers practice squad earlier in the season.

In three seasons from 2018-2020, Johnson carried the ball 283 times for 1,225 yards. He also registered 61 receptions for 527 yards. He was never a top-tier back, but he’s certainly serviceable and, if he’s called upon, he’ll now be running behind an offensive line that is in an entirely different league than the ones he had in Detroit over the past few years.

Especially for a practice squad addition, this is a no-brainer move for a team that has limited healthy running backs.

Also included in the moves are Luke Juriga returning another stint with the team. Suffice it to say he has been released and re-signed to the practice squad quite frequently.

The open spots on the practice squad come from the release of kicker Matt McCrane, which is a bit of a surprise considering they brought him in as a COVID backup for Jake Elliott, and the placement of John Hightower on the COVID list.

The Eagles must feel comfortable enough that McCrane would still be available if needed (or that having him is not much better than having no kicker) considering he was just brought in last week as part of the team’s increased COVID precautions.

Hightower becomes the ninth Eagles player on the COVID list, joining the four who landed there yesterday.