AJ Brown Out For Wild Card Game With Sprained Knee
Eagles will be down another player when they take the field on Monday Night against the Bucs. The Eagles ruled AJ Brown out for Monday’s game. Brown sustained the knee injury playing in what turned out to be a meaningless game in week 18.
Sydney Brown and Reed Blankenship sustained injuries in the game too. The Eagles already ruled out Sydney with a torn ACL, and Blankenship hasn’t practiced all week. To top it off, Jalen Hurts injured his middle finger in the game. He’s been limited in practice.
There was a chance, albiet slim, week 18 could have counted for the Eagles. If they had won, and the Cowboys lost, the Eagles would be the 3 seed. Instead, the Giants embarrassed the Eagles, despite them playing their starters, and the Cowboys blew out Washington. And now as a result, the Eagles are the 5 seed and will be down at least 2, likely 3, starting players. And their QB has barely been able to throw the ball in practice.
There has already been a ton of pressure on Nick Sirianni. The 1-5 finish to the season has his seat red hot. With Bill Belichick suddenly available, some fans want him to replace Nick Sirianni next season. But if the Eagles lose Monday night because they are missing players who got hurt because Nick played them in a meaningless game, those calls may get even louder.
In his place, it will likely be a mix of Julio Jones, Quez Watkins, and Olamide Zaccheaus. None of them have been very productive this season. But none of them have particularly seen a ton of use. All season long the gameplan has pretty much revolved around 3 targets. But one of them will need to step up now in his absence.
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The 7 Biggest Mistakes That Led The Eagles To This Mess
Hiring Sean Desai
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Brian Johnson had only ever called plays at college. Sean Desai had just one 1 year as a DC in the NFL before now. The Eagles should have gone with more experience or pedigree at one of those two jobs. Brian Johnson made sense at the time. He came to the Eagles with a lot of hype and did a fantastic job as Jalen Hurts’ QB Coach. If they didn’t hire him, there were several other teams waiting to scoop him up. Has he worked out in year one? No. But I can’t say hiring him was the wrong choice.
But Desai was not already part of the team, and he did not come in with the same hype. He wasn’t even their first option. They wanted Vic Fangio. But Jonathan Gannon sneaking behind their back kept them from retaining him to take over as DC. So they eventually went with Desai instead, and it did not go well.
Would a great playcaller on defense fix all of their issues? No. The roster itself just isn’t good enough. They went to Matt Patricia and things got worse. But it could have helped. They interviewed Jesse Minter, DC at Michigan, for the job. And while we don’t know if he would have accepted the job, he is currently drawing massive praise for his work at Michigan. Their defense is why they are one win away from winning a National Championship. Not being able to replace coaches who got a job elsewhere was part of the downfall here for Dougie P, and so far Nick Sirianni is struggling with the same thing.
Relying On Nakobe Dean
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Dean, like Smith, could grow into a good player one day. But putting so much stock in a second-year player who barely saw the field last season, was a mistake. He was okay when on the field this season, and then unfortunately got hurt. But they had next to nothing behind him. Their other options were Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham.
Howie has ignored Linebacker for a long time. He got lucky here and there and got guys like TJ Edwards. But then Edwards left, and he did not have any adequate replacements ready to go. The same thing happened after the 2017 Super Bowl. They eventually let Jordan Hicks leave, and then were left relying on players like Nate Gerry. And it’s deja vu this season, because once again they have let their linebackers who got to the Super Bowl walk, and the replacements are not playing anywhere near well enough.
Every team has to go cheap somewhere. For Howie, it is LB and Safety. But one of the ways you can go cheap and still get by is by drafting well at that spot. And outside of taking Nakobe Dean after his free fall in the draft, the Eagles have left their cupboard for young LBs dry for far too long.
