January 01, 2023
Stephen Lew/USA TODAY Sports
Saints CB Marshon Lattimore (lacerated kidney) will play for the first time since Week 5.
The Philadelphia Eagles will be without their two most important players in Jalen Hurts and Lane Johnson this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. The Saints, meanwhile, are a banged-up football team, most notably along their offensive line, and at wide receiver.
Here are the Eagles' and Saints' inactives, with analysis.
• QB Jalen Hurts: Gardner Minshew gets the start, and Ian Book will back him up.
• RT Lane Johnson: Johnson is arguably the best player on the team, and maybe even the best offensive lineman in the NFL. He will reportedly be back in time for the Eagles' playoff run. Jack Driscoll will likely get the start at RT in place of Johnson.
• CB Avonte Maddox: Maddox is out indefinitely with a toe injury. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles continue to simply play Josiah Scott in his absence.
• RB Trey Sermon: No. 4 running back.
• OG Sua Opeta: Rookie UDFA Josh Sills can play OT, so he's active ahead of Opeta with Johnson out.
• DE Janarius Robinson: Robinson was activated from IR a few weeks ago, but he's still inactive.
• S Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (Week 13): Gardner-Johnson lacerated a kidney in the Eagles' win over the Green Bay Packers. He is eligible to return from injured reserve after having already missed four games, but the Eagles have not yet activated his 21-day practice window.
• DE Robert Quinn (IR - Week 14): The Eagles traded a fourth-round pick for Quinn at the trade deadline, hoping that he could add some juice to their pass rush in a role reminiscent of Chris Long's in 2017, or Ryan Kerrigan's in 2021. So far he's been more like Kerrigan than Long, as he has just 2 tackles and 2 QB hits with no sacks in five games.
• P Arryn Siposs (IR - Week 15): Siposs collected a loose ball after a blocked punt and was injured while trying to run for a first down Week 14 against the Giants. The Eagles signed 15-year vet Brett Kern to the practice squad to replace him.
• DE Derek Barnett (IR - Week 2): Barnett tore his ACL Week 1 against the Lions, and his season is over. After a 2021 season in which he had 8 penalties vs. 2.5 sacks, Barnett lost his starting job, but remained a depth player poised to get his share of snaps in 2022.
• DT Marlon Tuipulotu (IR - Week 11): Tuipulotu has 16 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery in a rotational role this season.
The Saints will have CB Marshon Lattimore, who lacerated a kidney and hasn't played since Week 5, as well as rookie WR Chris Olave, who did not play Week 16 against the Browns. They have four injured inactives:
• LG Andrus Peat: Former Eagle Josh Andrews could get the start at LG in place of Peat. The Saints will have backups at both guard spots.
• S Marcus Maye: The Saints' starting safeties will be Tyrann Mathieu and backup Justin Evans, who is also banged up with a shoulder injury.
• S Justin Evans: Evans would normally start with Maye out. In his absence, the starter could be Daniel Sorensen.
• RB Dwayne Washington: Backup RB with only 11 carries on the season.
The rest:
#Saints inactives against the Eagles:
— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) January 1, 2023
WR Marquez Callaway
S Marcus Maye
RB Dwayne Washington
S Justin Evans
LB Chase Hansen
G Andrus Peat
DE Tanoh Kpassagnon
Marshon Lattimore, Chris Olave, and Pete Werner are all active.
• WR Michael Thomas: Thomas had 470 receptions for 5512 yards and 32 TDs over his first four NFL seasons, but injuries have derailed his career. Over the last three seasons, Thomas has 56 receptions for 609 yards and 3 TDs, and he has missed 39 games (and counting). He had toe surgery, and is done for the season.
• WR Jarvis Landry: Landry signed with the Saints in May to help with their wide receiver depth. He had one big game Week 1 against the Falcons (7-114-0), but was otherwise not much of a factor. On the season, he had 25 catches for 272 yards and 1 TD in 9 games before landing on injured reserve with an ankle injury.
• WR Deonte Harty: Harty is one of the NFL's best return men. He suffered a likely season-ending toe injury earlier his season.
• RB Mark Ingram: At 33 years of age, Ingram is on the downside of his career. He rushed 62 times for 233 yards (3.8 YPC) and 1 TD for the Saints this season before injuring his knee.
• RG Cesar Ruiz: Ruiz is a starting RG for the Saints who can also play some center. He started the first 14 games this season, but was placed on injured reserve with a foot injury. He has been replaced in the lineup by Calvin Throckmorton, a pretty notable downgrade.
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