Getty Eagles DE Genard Avery recorded a sack in Week 9 versus the Bears and looks to be a key player moving forward.
The Eagles watched one of their hardest-working pass rushers leave practice on Wednesday with an apparent leg injury.
Genard Avery went down hard, grabbing his right leg and writhing in pain, before being carted off the field. He had just “sacked” backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld when the injury occurred. His teammates all gathered around a very emotional Avery for moral support, including head coach Doug Pederson and GM Howie Roseman.
It was Avery’s first day back at camp after missing two straight days with an undisclosed illness. The Eagles had high hopes for the 25-year-old defensive end to earn a spot in their pass-rushing rotation. Now it appears his season is over.
“A guy like Genard who does have a certain skill set, I mean he’s playing defensive end for us right now in the rotation,” defensive line coach Matt Burke said on Aug. 13. “I would say I think one of the things we always talk about for our ends and playing on the edge is building power and speed and he is an explosive player. He is an explosive lower-body athlete. He’s powerful in a different way than some other guys are powerful.”
The Eagles sent a 2021 fourth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns last October in exchange for Avery, a former fifth-round pick out of Memphis. He only played 33 defensive snaps in eight games after the trade deadline, although he did record half-a-sack against Chicago (impressively, it was his first snap in midnight green).
Avery just never seemed to get up to speed throughout the season. Roseman explained why the team made the trade in his end-of-year press conference, telling reporters that Avery was a part of their long-term plans.
“He was someone that we thought was a young player who had explosive traits,” Roseman said, “and when we talked to Coach [Pederson] and the defensive coaching staff, they said this trade will pay off more in the future than it will through the course of the year. We understood that. We understood it was a high price to pay, but it’s hard to find guys with his skill set, and he’s a versatile guy, but he’ll be best served with an offseason.”
Prior to camp, multiple Eagles veterans like Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham talked about how hard Avery had worked in the offseason. He was in the best shape of his life and even enlisted Darius Slay’s footwork trainer. It’s a sad day.
Athlete: @AveryGenard
Position: DE
Team: @Eagles 🦅
Footwork/Mechanics.
Quick Lateral movement.
Flipping the Hips.
Bending.
Watch how quick and controlled Genard moves laterally – flips hips straight into a Bend – ALL in one fluid movement! Feet never stops! Elite!
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Competition Heating Up for Fifth Defensive End
If Avery’s injury is indeed as serious as it looked, then the Eagles will have a few guys fighting for his roster spot. The three main competitors gunning to be the team’s fifth defensive end are Shareef Miller, Joe Ostman and rookie Casey Toohill. Ostman should arguably be the most intriguing name.
Joe Ostman, the people’s pass rusher
In an odd twist of fate, it was Ostman who lost a likely place on the 53 last year when he tore his ACL in a live practice at Lincoln Financial. The 25-year-old had enjoyed a stellar camp in 2019 and was making it tough for the coaching staff to cut him. Then, he got hurt and rehabbed all offseason to get back. Ostman knows the value of practice reps and he’s been making the most of his snaps.
“Throughout camp, we’ve had guys out of practice for different reasons, and just kind of balancing the reps for guys,” Ostman said. “At the same time, I want to be able to rush from anywhere on the D-line, so those reps are valuable to me, too.”
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