In contrast to the roller coaster that’s been the 2025 season for Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, fellow wide receiver DeVonta Smith has been steady as it goes.
That’s why Smith’s presumed absence for a Week 13 Black Friday game against the Chicago Bears due to chest and shoulder injuries suffered in a Week 12 loss to the Dallas Cowboys was cause for such concern.
While earlier reports in the week indicated Smith wouldn’t play, those ended up being false, and the 2021 first round pick is going to be on the field with his teammates.
Smith, who signed a 3-year, $75 million contract extension before last season, forms arguably the NFL’s best wide receiver duo when he and Brown are hitting on all cylinders.
“Eagles WR DeVonta Smith is off the injury report and good to go Friday vs. the Bears,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote on his official X account on Thursday, November 27.
“DeVonta Smith will play vs. Bears after suffering chest and shoulder injuries from his backflip 450 dive catch,” Bleacher Report wrote on its official X account. “Smith is also dealing with an illness.”
The game against the Bears is one the Eagles probably didn’t circle on their schedule before the season but takes on much bigger importance now — both teams enter Week 13 with identical 8-3 records.
Smith Made NFL History in 2024
Smith grabbed a unique piece of football history following the 2024 season when he became one of just the fifth player to win a Super Bowl, college football national championship and Heisman Trophy.
Smith won 2 national championships at the Alabama, including a game-winning, 41-yard touchdown catch in overtime against Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game as a true freshman.
Nicknamed “The Slim Reaper” or “Skinny Batman” because of his 6-foot, 170-pound frame, Smith capped his college career with another CFP National Championship in 2020 as he became the first wide receiver to win the Heisman Trophy since Michigan’s Desmond Howard in 1991.
The Eagles selected Smith with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft.
Smith Predicted to Fall Off in 2025
Not everyone thought Smith could keep up his levels of production in 2025 — mainly because he missed 4 games due to concussion and hamstring issues in 2024.
Instead, Smith has been better than ever and done so in a year where the Eagles offense has not seemed like it had any rhyme or reason. That included 9 receptions for a career high 183 yards in a 28-22 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 7.
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon called Smith the “Most Overpaid Player” on Philadelphia’s roster headed into the season.
“Smith is a very good player, but he’s a clear-cut No. 2 receiver who has averaged about 1,000 yards per season and never scored more than eight touchdowns in a campaign.” Gagnon wrote. “Yet his $25 million AAV makes him the 12th-highest-paid player at his position.”
Now, you might be able to make an argument that Smith has become more valuable to the Eagles than Brown, a 3-time NFL All-Pro mired in the worst season of his career.
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