January 05, 2020
As always, the Philadelphia Eagles have more than their share of injuries. However, for a change, their opponent is dealing with a high number of injuries as well, as the Seattle Seahawks have a depleted offensive line, and other injury-ravaged positions.
Here are the Eagles-Seahawks inactives, with analysis.
• RT Lane Johnson (ankle): We covered the ramifications of Johnson playing / not playing in our five matchups to watch when Philly has the ball. With Johnson out, Halapoulivaati Vaitai will have his hands full with Jadeveon Clowney, who does not appear on the Seahawks' injury report, and is good to go on Sunday. Matt Pryor will fill in at RG.
• WR Nelson Agholor (knee): Agholor hasn't played since the Eagles' loss to the Dolphins in Miami. In his absence, the Eagles have put up at least 400 yards of offense in each of the last four games with a receiving corps comprised of Greg Ward, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Robert Davis, and Deontay Burnett.
• QB Nate Sudfeld: Sud is the No. 3 quarterback, obviously.
• DE Genard Avery: Ugh.
• DE Shareef Miller: Miller has only been active for one game this season.
• RB Elijah Holyfield: Holyfield is more of a prospect for the team to develop next season.
• OG Sua Opeta: Opeta was brought up from the practice squad a few weeks ago so that the Dolphins couldn't poach him.
• RG Brandon Brooks (IR): Brooks spent the entirety of the 2019 offseason rehabbing his Achilles tear, and was amazingly able to start Week 1. He'll now spend his 2020 offseason rehabbing his shoulder. There's a decent argument to be made that Brooks was the best guard in the NFL in 2019. Obviously, this is a huge loss heading into the playoffs.
• WR DeSean Jackson (IR): The Eagles' offense has had a pathetic lack of speed ever since Jackson suffered an abdominal injury Week 2. If the Eagles beat the Seahawks, Jackson is eligible to return from injured reserve.
• WR Alshon Jeffery (IR): Jeffery's 2019 season was a disappointment, as he had 43 catches for 490 yards and 4 TD receptions in 10 games, or an average of 4.3 catches for 49 yards per game in the games he played. He was also accused of being the anonymous source who criticized Carson Wentz and the Eagles' front office to ESPN reporter Josina Anderson. He's done for the season with a Lisfranc injury. To be determined if he has already played his last game as an Eagle.
• DT Malik Jackson (IR): Originally, the loss of Jackson hurt most when the Eagles forced obvious passing downs, as the Eagles didn't have a clear replacement for him in those second-and third-and-long situations. They have since moved Brandon Graham inside on those downs, with Josh Sweat coming in at LDE.
• CB Ronald Darby (IR): Darby returned to the team in 2019 after testing the free agent waters, and had a disappointing season before landing on IR with a hip flexor injury.
• LB Kamu Grugier-Hill (IR): Grugier-Hill looked like he was primed for a breakout season, which was derailed in training camp with an MCL injury that caused him to miss the first three games of the season. After playing only 5 snaps against Washington, Grugier-Hill reported back pain, and he was shut down for the season on IR, with conflicting messages from the team and Grugier-Hill's agent.
• DT Hassan Ridgeway (IR): Ridgeway was a decent rotational DT who could eat up snaps before he went on IR.
• RB Darren Sproles (IR): Sproles is done for the season with a hip flexor injury. There was really no reason that all of his snaps shouldn't have been going to Miles Sanders in the first place. He said he plans on retiring at the end of this season.
• RB Corey Clement (IR): Clement worked his way back from a knee injury only to suffer a shoulder injury Week 2 against the Falcons. His shoulder wasn't getting better, so the Eagles shut him down for the season.
• OT Jordan Mailata (IR): Mailata has a back injury, but he's mainly on IR because the Eagles needed the roster spot.
• DE Joe Ostman (IR): Ostman was having a great camp, before he was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
• LT Duane Brown: As expected, Brown was unable to return in time for this matchup after having his knee drained. The Eagles must take advantage of the Seahawks' already bad -- and now very banged-up -- offensive line. George Fant will fill in for Brown at LT.
• LG Mike Iupati: With Iupati being a somewhat unexpected inactive, the Seahawks are missing their top three offensive linemen. That's bad for them. #Analysis.
• LB Mychal Kendricks: Kendricks had a big game against the Eagles Week 12, when he made 13 solo tackles. He tore an ACL against the Niners last Sunday.
• WR Malik Turner: 15 catches for 245 yards and 1 TD this season.
• WR Jaron Brown: 16 catches for 220 yards and 2 TDs this season.
• RB Chris Carson (IR): Carson was the Seahawks' big, workhorse back. He carried 278 times for 1230 yards (4.4 YPC) and 7 TDs this season. Carson suffered a fractured hip Week 16 against the Cardinals, ending his season.
• RB Rashaad Penny (IR): Penny rushed 65 times for 370 yards (5.7 YPC) and 3 TDs this season. He had a huge game against the Eagles Week 12, when he carried 14 times for 129 yards, and the following TD:
His season is over after a torn ACL.
• RB C.J. Prosise (IR): Prosise was the Seahawks' RB3. He too has hurt the Eagles in the past:
Prosise in on IR with a broken arm.
• WR Josh Gordon (SUS): The Patri*ts released Gordon after six games, and he signed with the Seahawks mid-season. In five games with the Seahawks, Gordon had 7 catches for 139 yards.
• TE Will Dissly (IR): Highly productive 23 catches for 262 yards and 4 TDs in 6 games before he went on IR with an Achilles injury.
• C Justin Britt (IR): Filling in for Britt will be C Joey Hunt, who as we noted in our five matchups to watch, is thought of as a good technician, but at 6'2, 299, with extremely short 30¼” T-Rex arms, he is player that a healthy Fletcher Cox should be able to feast on if he get the opportunity to do so.
• OL Ethan Pocic (IR): Versatile backup offensive lineman who started Week 1, and appeared in two games before being lost for the season with a back injury.
• DT Al Woods (SUS): Woods is a big, 330-pound run-stuffing DT. He was suspended for four games for PEDs.
• S Tedric Thompson (IR): Starting safety. Had 19 tackles and 2 INT before going on IR with a shoulder injury. The Seahawks traded for Quandre Diggs at the deadline to replace Thompson.
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