Eagles receiver Brown to miss game
The Philadelphia Eagles will be without top wide receiver A.J. Brown when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed Saturday.
Brown suffered a knee injury Jan. 7 in the first quarter against the New York Giants and did not return to the regularseason finale game. Brown did not practiced last week.
“It was going to be a stretch for AJ to play,” Sirianni said. “He did everything he possibly could to get himself ready.”
Brown might not be the only key player missing from the game. It’s likely that safety Reed Blankenship (groin) won’t play after he had not practiced last week as well.
Sirianni didn’t rule out Blankenship and said it’s possible that he could be a game-time decision.
But the Eagles’ other top receiver, DeVonta Smith, is expected back after missing last week’s game with an ankle injury.
Quez Watkins will likely play more, along with Julio Jones and Olamide Zaccheus. Filling in for Smith, Watkins had eight catches for 93 yards against the Giants. He came into that game with seven catches for 49 yards in nine games this season.
Tight end Dallas Goedert and running back D’Andre Swift can also be a factor in the passing game.
Still, none of them can compare to Brown, who had 1,456 yards receiving, second in team history to the 1,496 yards he had last season. Brown also had 105 receptions, also second most in team history. Smith had 81 catches for 1,066 yards.
“It’ll be different guys (filling in),” Sirianni said. “One of the strengths of our team is the pass catchers that we have.”
Sirianni said quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has an injured middle finger on his throwing hand, had a good practice Friday. But it’s possible that it could affect him Monday. He is expected to play, however. Hurts was listed on the injury report Friday as a full participant.
“Obviously, everyone is going to be fighting through things,” Sirianni said. “He’s fighting through the finger injury.”
As for safety, Blankenship’s injury, along with Sydney Brown already ruled out with a knee injury, leaves Kevin Byard as the only healthy safety on the 53-man roster. But Byard said Friday that Avonte Maddox, the nickel corner, will move to safety, something Maddox confirmed as well.
“It won’t be the first time I’ve been at safety,” Maddox said. “I’ve been there a good amount of time throughout my career, so it’s not like it’s brand new.”
The Eagles can rotate at nickel among Bradley Roby, Eli Ricks and even cornerback James Bradberry. Bradberry played plenty of nickel in the first game against Tampa Bay this season, on Sept. 25. The Buccaneers had just 174 yards of offense in the Eagles’ 25-11 win.
Cornerback Darius Slay’s return from a knee injury would give the Eagles the option of moving Bradberry inside to nickel on passing downs. Kelee Ringo or Ricks would take Bradberry’s spot on the outside in those situations.