December 16, 2023
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Kate Frese/For PhillyVoice
Eagles CB Darius Slay during the Week 2 game against the Vikings on September 14, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Eagles cornerback Darius Slay underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and will not play in Monday night's Week 15 game at Seattle.
ESPN's Adam Schefter was first to report Saturday morning, and head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed the news soon after at the top of his press conference over at the NovaCare Complex.
Slay, per Schefter, is expected back by the end of the regular season.
Slay appeared on the Eagles' injury report with a knee issue earlier this week and did not practice on Thursday. He also sat out 15 plays against Dallas in a 33-13 drubbing last Sunday night in a performance that was brutal all around for the Eagles' secondary.
Slay, however, was targeted four times by Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense and allowed no receptions.
The Eagles' defense beyond the front seven has been suspect all season, and in the past two weeks especially, highly vulnerable. So losing their top cornerback now, ahead of a crucial home stretch to the regular season with the NFC's No. 1 seed at stake, is a serious blow.
James Bradberry will continue to man his side of the field, but the options to fill in for Slay in the meantime consist of Eli Ricks, Josh Jobe, Bradley Roby, and Kelee Ringo, which isn't much of an experienced group.
Sirianni, however, tried to show confidence when addressing the media on Saturday.
"We got the right guys in place," he said when asked what the team's plans were with Slay now out.
They're going to have to be.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts missed Saturday's practice with an illness and defensive end Josh Sweat was also absent for a personal reason. Both are still expected to play Monday night, per PHLY's Zach Berman.
The playing statuses of right guard Cam Jurgens and linebacker Zach Cunningham, however, are murky. Neither practiced on Saturday, as spotted by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane.
Jurgens has been listed with a pec injury, and Cunningham a knee injury.
The Eagles' full injury report for the week can be seen HERE.
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