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The Philadelphia Eagles officially listed defensive end Josh Sweat as questionable for Sunday’s wild-card playoff game. He has been battling a non-COVID illness all week and missed three straight practices. Suddenly, there’s good news on the Sweat watch.
According to The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, Sweat traveled with the team to Tampa Bay and was “all smiles” at the team hotel. The Eagles still haven’t declared him active, but the fact he made the plane ride down to Florida is pretty telling. Injured players don’t usually make road treks unless they are playing.
UPDATE: Sweat was officially ruled out by the team following a “life-threatening” situation that required surgery on Tuesday. He attempted to battle back, but couldn’t do it. The Eagles praised his “toughness.” Ryan Kerrigan should take his spot at defensive end.
Head coach Nick Sirianni clarified that Sweat was dealing with abdominal pain when he met with reporters on Friday. It sounded like the 6-foot-5, 265-pounder might be a game-time decision.
“He had some abdominal pain early in the week, but he’s getting a little bit better each day,” Sirianni said. “We don’t know his status for the game yet, but I’ll tell you he’s questionable.”
Sweat is tied for the team lead in sacks with 7.5 and ranks second in quarterback hits with 13. Philadelphia absolutely needs him if they expect to get pressure on Tom Brady and make him uncomfortable in the pocket.
“Get him out of his comfort zone a little bit,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said when asked how to stop Brady. “He typically has success versus most people, but I do think that we got to be able to get him a little bit out of rhythm with the different tools that we have to do that.”
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Richard Rodgers Activated, Make 4 Other Moves
The Eagles were busy fine-tuning their roster 24 hours prior to kickoff. The team signed veteran tight end Richard Rodgers to the 53-man roster, a move that Sirianni hinted at making earlier in the week. He and rookie Jack Stoll will serve as the backups behind starter Dallas Goedert after Tyree Jackson went on season-ending IR.
Philadelphia also signed guard/tackle Kayode Awosika from the practice squad as a COVID-19 replacement. He’ll take the roster spot vacated by rookie defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu who got placed on the COVID-19 list. Meanwhile, the Eagles promoted receiver KeeSean Johnson and defensive end Cameron Malveaux as standard elevations. Johnson could see action with J.J. Arcega-Whiteside out; Malveaux is insurance in case Sweat needs a breather (or can’t go).
Eagles Back in Midnight Green
The Eagles announced they will wear their midnight green jerseys matched with white pants on Sunday. This is the color combination the team wore in Super Bowl LII when they defeated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots 41-33. Not sure that matters, but maybe it’s good luck. Philadelphia has a 2-7 record this season in midnight green.
Tampa Bay will be donning white jerseys and pewter pants which is notable for two reasons. It’s the color combination the Buccaneers wore in last year’s Super Bowl, which they won 31-9 over the Kansas City Chiefs. And it is the uniform that Tampa Bay wore in the 2002 NFC Championship Game where they upset the Eagles 27-10 in the final game at Veterans Stadium.
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