January 07, 2023
The Philadelphia Eagles announced six roster moves on Friday and Saturday ahead of their matchup with the New York Giants. Let's cover each of them.
• They activated S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson from injured reserve: Through the first 11 games of the season, Gardner-Johnson racked up 60 tackles, one sack, eight pass breakups, and he remains the NFL's leader in INTs, with six. He has missed the last five games with a lacerated kidney, suffered against the Packers on Thanksgiving weekend.
It will be interesting to see where Gardner-Johnson plays when he returns to the field. Throughout his career with the Saints, Gardner-Johnson primarily played in the slot. With the Eagles, he has mainly played at safety. With starting slot corner Avonte Maddox out indefinitely with a toe injury, the Eagles seemingly have one of two options:
My guess is that it will be the latter.
• They activated DE Robert Quinn from injured reserve: The Eagles traded a fourth-round pick for Quinn at the trade deadline, but he has just 2 tackles and 2 QB hits with no sacks in five games in Philly. Still, Quinn's return could be timely, as the Eagles need more DE depth with Josh Sweat suffering a scary neck injury last Sunday against the Saints.
• They elevated P Brett Kern to the active roster: In the Eagles' Week 14 win over the Giants, Arryn Siposs collected a loose ball after a blocked punt and was injured while trying to run for a first down. The Eagles then signed Kern to their practice squad, and made him a temporary callup in each of their last three games. Because the maximum number of callups is three, the Eagles had to add Kern to the active roster in order for him to play on Sunday.
• They waived OG Sua Opeta: Opeta began the season as one of the Eagles' top reserve offensive linemen, appearing in the regular offense in five games of the team's first 7 games, playing both at LG and RG. However, he struggled and fell down the depth chart, landing on the inactive list in each of the Eagles' last nine games. With the Eagles needing roster spots, Opeta became expendable. There's a decent chance that he will be claimed by some other team desperate for offensive line depth.
• They placed DE Janarius Robinson on injured reserve: The Eagles poached Robinson off of the Vikings' practice squad in September, but he has not appeared in any games. This is Robinson's second stint on IR this year, so he is done for the season. Robinson has some appealing traits, and is a player the Eagles will likely look to develop throughout the offseason.
• They placed LB Shaun Bradley on injured reserve: Bradley is a core special teamer who had zero snaps in the regular defense this season. He has 7 tackles.
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