Haason Reddick Needs Surgery On His Injured Thumb, Should Be Ready Week 1
The Eagles had been blessed at this point to have gotten through camp without any significant injuries to important players. That luck ran out this week. Haason Reddick injured his thumb on Monday during joint practice, and we learned today that the injury will require surgery.
#Eagles star LB Haason Reddick is having surgery to address a thumb injury suffered in Monday’s practice, sources say. This is all so that he is ready for the start of the season. pic.twitter.com/axCaiBJ783
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 17, 2023
The good news is, he could still be ready for the start of the season. He would not be the first defensive lineman to play with a cast around his hand. Jason Pierre-Paul famously played with one after his brush in with some fireworks. Von Miller once rocked the hand cast too. The Eagles hope he will be ready to go week 1.
Haason Reddick is coming off a career year where he racked up 16 sacks, plus 3.5 more in the playoffs. He finished 4th in Defensive Player of the Year voting. And he led the whole league with 5 forced fumbles.
All things considered, it could be worse news. He will sit for a couple of weeks, and start the season. Even if he missed a game, it is a position the Eagles have great depth at to survive missing a player even as great as Reddick. Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat both had double-digit sacks along with him last year off the edge. And the Eagles added Nolan Smith to the group, who is already flashing his high upside in camp.
Haason Reddick has never missed a game due to injury in his career. This should not end that streak. It just means to start the season he will be rocking one of those casts. Wearing it could maybe impact his ability to finish tackles since he won’t have the use of his fingers on that hand to grab the other player’s jersey to help warp them up. But he should still at least be able to be just as disruptive in the pass rush as he usually is. Disaster averted for now.