Birds hoping Gardner-Johnson (rib) able to avoid IR
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has his fingers crossed that the club won’t have to put NFL interception leader CJ GardnerJohnson on injured reserve.
Sirianni said GardnerJohnson still is being evaluated for pain in his ribs.
“We’re not there yet,” Sirianni said Monday on his day-after teleconference following a 40-33 win over Green Bay. “Hopefully not, but we’re not there yet. I know he was in some pain yesterday after he took that hit. We’re still running tests and seeing what’s going on, so I don’t have any new information for you yet.”
Undrafted rookie Reed Blankenship got his first professional interception in place of Gardner-Johnson, who has an NFL-best six picks this year. Blankenship’s six tackles matched linebacker T.J. Edwards for a team-high, and he also broke up a pass. Blankenship played 35 of 49 defensive snaps.
“Every time Reed has had an opportunity to play and perform, he’s done a really good job,” Sirianni said.
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Defensive tackle Jordan Davis (ankle) is eligible to begin practicing this week.
There’s a chance the 6-6, 345-pound rookie is back on the field. Then again, you guessed it, Sirianni isn’t there yet.
“Not in a big rush to force something until we have all the answers and see how he’s feeling,” Sirianni said. “I know he’s attacking the rehab like crazy. I know our training staff and our doctors and our strength staff are doing everything they can do to help him, and I know Jordan is doing everything he can do to help himself. Great team effort by everybody and we’ll see.”
The defensive tackle snap counts Sunday were interesting: Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave each played 31 snaps, Linval Joseph 30, with Ndamukong Suh and Milton Williams at 18 each.
The Eagles only played 49 defensive snaps because the offense controlled the clock. Jalen Hurts ran for 158 yards, Miles Sanders 143 in a 363-yard rushing effort resulting in 80 offensive snaps.
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Stop me if you’ve heard this but the Eagles were slapped around on special teams by the Packers.
Keisean Nixon lit the Eagles up with five kickoff returns for 172 yards, including a 53-yarder he almost busted for a score. Nixon fielded Jake Elliott’s kickoff six yards deep in the end zone before weaving in and out of Eagles players like a character in a Disney movie.
With each week a special-teams adventure, Sirianni is at his wit’s end. It sounds like he’ll mix in veterans to reinforce the personnel groupings.
“We have to do whatever we have to do to get it fixed,” Sirianni said. “Obviously, I’m not going to tell you, ‘Hey, this guy is going to play here, this guy is going to play here.’ But obviously everything is discussed.”