The Eagles might be down two key players when they face the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday. They will at least be without one.
Here’s the full injury report from Friday:
Out: WR A.J. Brown (hamstring)
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Questionable: S C.J. Gardner-Johnson (foot)
Brown, 27, will miss his second consecutive game with a hamstring injury he suffered in practice last week. It’s not a surprise that Brown was ruled out after missing the entire week of practice.
There’s no doubt the Eagles missed Brown against the Falcons but this week have been able to spend the entire week game-planning without him. The Eagles might have a tough decision to make with Brown in Week 4. The Eagles play in Tampa before an early Week 5 bye.
Gardner-Johnson, 26, popped up on the injury report Thursday and missed the final two days of practice.
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“Yeah, he tweaked something yesterday,” head coach Nick Sirianni said on Friday morning. “I won't get into the specifics, obviously, but we’ll see how today goes.”
Gardner-Johnson was in the Eagles’ locker room after practice. As he packed his bag for New Orleans, Gardner-Johnson declined an interview request.
“See ya on Sunday,” Gardner-Johnson said.
It seems like the plan is for Gardner-Johnson to travel to New Orleans as a game-time decision. If he isn’t able to make the trip on Saturday, the Eagles would have to rule him out.
Without Brown, the Eagles will have DeVonta Smith as their top receiver and you can expect for Jahan Dotson, Britain Covey, Johnny Wilson and perhaps even Parris Campbell from the practice squad to see playing time. The Eagles might also use more 12 personnel with two tight ends. They did a combination of those things against the Falcons.
If Gardner-Johnson can’t play, the Eagles don’t have a ton of safety depth but they do have options. They could plug-and-play backup Tristin McCollum next to Reed Blankenship. They could move Avonte Maddox to safety and play Cooper DeJean in the slot. Or they could move Maddox at safety and use Quinyon Mitchell inside on nickel situations and Isaiah Rodgers outside.
The one bit of good news on Friday’s injury report is that Wilson (hamstring) is expected to play. He doesn’t have a game status after missing the first two days of practice this week. The rookie receiver was a full participant on Friday.
Here’s the Saints’ injury report:
Out: DT Khalen Saunders (calf)
Questionable: LB D’Marco Jackson (calf), TE/FB Taysom Hill (chest), OT Landon Young (foot), S Will Harris (shin), WR A.T. Perry (illness)
Starting cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) was a full participant on Friday and doesn’t have a game status, so he’ll make his return after missing a game.
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