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The Philadelphia Eagles traded away one Pro Bowl tight end and their emerging star at the position remains sick. Dallas Goedert didn’t participate on Thursday, October 21 after coming off the Reserve/COVID-19 list earlier in the day. There doesn’t appear to be any immediate cause for concern, though.
Goedert was seen working out alone on a side field (via NBC Sports Philadelphia) at practice in what the team ruled a “ramp up” period. The starter missed a whole week, including the team’s Week 6 matchup, while dealing with the novel coronavirus.
If Goedert was expected to miss any significant time, they wouldn’t have elevated him to the active roster. The Eagles have two other tight ends behind him (Jack Stoll, Noah Togiai) as preseason standout Tyree Jackson slowly acclimates himself in the 21-day practice window.
Long snapper Rick Lovato (hamstring) was listed as a “limited participant” on the latest practice report. The special-teams stud is in charge of deep snaps, traditionally used on punts and longer field goals. His absence would be a pretty big loss. Lovato’s backup isn’t named on the official depth chart. Nathan Gerry handled those duties last season.
On the positive side, starting safety Anthony Harris (hands) returned to practice as a full participant. Ditto for center Jason Kelce (foot/rest), right tackle Lane Johnson (rest), and Derek Barnett (foot). The Eagles have a pretty clean injury report heading into their Week 7 game in Las Vegas.
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Jalen Hurts: ‘Been in Every Game’
Jalen Hurts isn’t ready to concede the 2021 season despite a current rough patch. The Eagles (2-4) own the easiest remaining schedule in the league based on ESPN’s FPI (Football Power Index), including winnable game against the New York Giants, New York Jets, Detroit Lions and Washington Football Team.
Philly had the third-toughest schedule through the first six weeks. Hope springs eternal, right? And Hurts believes they have all the pieces in place to make a run.
“I know we have everything we need here, and I believe that, it’s just a matter of doing it,” Hurts told reporters. “You look at us and we’ve failed to be consistent in our goal to win ball games. We’ve been in every game. We just failed to be consistent enough to win, so it’s all things that we control and we know that. That’s why we’re so eager for this week and for this opportunity to go out and practice.”
Been in every game? That’s debatable. Their 41-21 loss to Dallas was never in doubt. And their 42-30 defeat to Kansas City looks closer due to garbage time scores. But every other game, yes, they certainly could be 4-2. Then again, to quote the great Bill Parcells: “you are what your record says you are.”
Darius Slay Ready for Darren Waller
Raiders tight end Darren Waller keeps stating his case for best tight end in football. The converted receiver can’t be stopped. He has 33 receptions for 378 yards and two touchdowns in six games this season.
More impressively, Waller has been targeted 53 times. That ranks 11th-best in the NFL, tied for first among tight ends with Travis Kelce. Needless to say, the Eagles cornerbacks have been watching a lot of tape on him.
“Fast, on film you can see him running away from DBs,” Darius Slay said of Waller. “He can do it from wherever you need him to, so we got to make sure we are on him. And he’s a big part of their offense. He gets a lot of targets, man. I was watching the Ravens game the other day, shoot like 17 [targets]? That’s real real high. That’s running back targets, so we got to be ready for him.”
Slay was referring to the Raiders-Ravens matchup in Week 1 where Waller had 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. The 6-foot-6, 255-pounder was actually targeted 19 times in that one.
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