December 18, 2023

Eagles-Seahawks Week 15 injury report, with analysis

Will any key Eagles' players miss Week 15 action against the Seahawks?

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts has been downgraded to questionable for Monday night with an illness.

For the first time since their Week 11 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles will be playing an opponent that does not have a rest advantage. The Eagles' Week 15 opponent, the Seattle Seahawks, listed 13 players on their initial injury report.

Here's the Eagles-Seahawks injury report, with analysis.

Player	Injury	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Status
CB Darius Slay	Knee	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
RG Cam Jurgens	Pectoral	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
LB Zach Cunningham	Knee	DNP	DNP	DNP	Out
QB Jalen Hurts	Illness	-	-	DNP	-
S Reed Blankenship	Concussion	Limited	Full	Full	-

Thursday notes:

• Slay missed practice during the early part of the week leading up to the Cowboys game with a knee injury, and he sat out 15 plays against the Cowboys. He may have a lingering issue there.

• Jurgens suffered a "chest" injury during the Cowboys game, but returned to the field.

• Cunningham missed the 49ers game with a hamstring injury, so this knee injury is new.

• Blankenship's limited status while going through the concussion protocol is a good sign for his availability against the Seahawks.

Friday notes:

• Jurgens and Cunningham were non-participants for the second straight day, which puts their availability in question.

Saturday notes:

• Slay had arthroscopic knee surgery and should be out a while. The hope is that he will return by the end of the regular season. Huge loss in advance of a talented Seahawks wide receiving corps.

• Avonte Maddox's 21-day practice window will be activated next week, according to Tim McManus.

The Eagles are opening the practice window for CB Avonte Maddox next week, per league source, with the expectation that he’ll play again this season.

A positive development in the light of the Darius Slay injury.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 16, 2023

The Eagles have missed him quite a bit.

• Slay, Jurgens, and Cunningham are all out.

Tyler Steen or Sua Opeta will start at RG. Nicholas Morrow and Shaq Leonard will likely start at LB. It's anyone's guess who will start in place of Slay at corner. Mine is Kelee Ringo.

Update: It's looking like Opeta will start at RG, and Ringo will start at CB.

Monday notes:

• Hurts is likely to play, while Geno Smith is considered a "longshot," per Ian Rapoport:

From @GMFB: The #Ravens lost RB Keaton Mitchell (knee) for the season; #Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence is in the protocol; #Seahawks QB Geno Smith (groin) has an uphill battle to play; #Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is sick. pic.twitter.com/F9NdRwPGWg
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 18, 2023

Notable players on IR, PUP, suspension, etc.

• LB Nakobe Dean: Entering the 2023 season, Dean was the clear No. 1 linebacker on the roster, as the team was counting on him to take on a much bigger role than what he had as a rookie in 2022. That has not gone to plan, as he landed on injured reserve after suffering a foot injury Week 1 against the Patriots. He returned Week 6 and played in four games before again suffering a foot injury that landed him on injured reserve for a second time this season. When he has played, Dean has been fine as a run defender and as a tackler (PFF has him down for 0 missed tackles), but he has struggled in coverage. PFF has him down for 13 completions on 14 targets for 120 yards.

Dean was seen on a Roll-A-Bout in the locker room on Thursday. That's a bad sign for his availability anytime soon.

• CB Avonte Maddox: Maddox had surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle. His season is likely over. The oft-injured Maddox missed games at three different junctures during the season in 2022, and was only able to play in two games in 2023. He also missed three games in 2018, four games in 2019, and six games in 2020. He is one of the best slot corners in the NFL when healthy, but it seems there will always be durability concerns. The Eagles had instability at slot corner for the bulk of the season with seemingly a different plan every week for a while, but Bradley Roby has become something of a full-time starting slot.

Update: Maddox's 21-day practice window will be opened next week, per Tim McManus, as noted above.

• S Justin Evans: Evans was the Eagles' choice to start opposite Reed Blankenship to begin the 2023 season, as he beat out Terrell Edmunds and Sydney Brown during training camp for that opportunity. He started four games for the Eagles, and when healthy, was a competent player. He landed on IR with a knee injury, lost his starting job when the Eagles traded for Kevin Byard, and reverted to season-ending IR when he was unable to make progress toward a return.

The Seahakws' injury report is rather long.

Player	Injury	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Status
CB Devon Witherspoon	Hip	DNP	DNP	DNP	Questionable
LB Jordyn Brooks	Ankle	DNP	Limited	Full
S Jamal Adams	Knee	DNP	DNP	DNP	Questionable
LB Nick Bellore	Knee	DNP	DNP	DNP	Questionable
EDGE Darrell Taylor	Abdomen	-	DNP	Full
QB Geno Smith	Groin	Limited	Limited	Limited	Questionable
RG Anthony Bradford	Knee	Limited	Limited	Full
DE Leonard Williams	Ankle	Limited	Full	Full
NT Jarran Reed	Wrist	Limited	Full	Full
CB Tre Brown	Heel	Limited	Full	Full
WR Dee Eskridge	Ribs	Limited	DNP	DNP	Questionable
RT Abraham Lucas	Knee	Full	Full	Full
C Evan Brown	Knee	Full	Full	Full
CB Artie Burns	Knee	Full	Full	Full

Thursday notes:

There are a lot of players on the Seahawks' injury report, so how about we just write quick blurbs about each of them, grouped by position? Cool? Cool.

• Quarterback:

QB Geno Smith: Smith missed the Seahawks-49ers game last week. If he is a go against the Eagles, he almost certainly won't be 100 percent. If he can't go, Drew Lock would get the start.

• Offensive line:

RG Anthony Bradford: Bradford is a fourth-round rookie who has filled in for regular starting RG Phil Haynes, who is on IR (as shown below).
C Evan Brown: Brown is the starting C, but he was a full participant, so he should be good to go.
OL Jason Peters: Peters (not shown above) missed practice for a personal matter.

Offensive skill position players:

WR Dee Eskridge: Eskridge was a Seahawks second-round pick in 2021, and has been a pretty big disappointment so far. 17 career catches, 122 yards (7.2 YPC), 1 TD. Those numbers are worse than J.J. Arcega Whiteside's at this point in JJAW's career.
It's worth noting that the Seahawks' top two running backs — Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet — were on the injury report last week. They are off of it this week.

• Defensive line:

DE Leonard Williams: You no doubt remember Williams from his days with the Giants. The Eagles have always seemed to handle him. 1 sack, 0 forced fumbles in 8 career games against the Eagles.
NT Jarran Reed: Reed is a good player who has 45 tackles and 6 sacks this season from his interior D-line spot.

• Linebacker:

LB Jordyn Brooks: Brooks is second on the team in tackles, with 102. He also has 4.5 sacks, an INT, and a forced fumble.
LB Nick Bellore: Special teams guy.

• Defensive secondary:

CB Devon Witherspoon: Witherspoon is in the conversation for Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is a really fun player to watch. 65 tackles, 3 sacks, a forced fumble, a pick-six, and 16 pass breakups. Witherspoon got hurt against the 49ers Week 14 and did not return to that game.
S Jamal Adams: Honestly the Eagles would be better off if Adams plays. He can't cover.
CB Tre Brown: No. 3 corner. 25 tackles, 2 INTs (including a pick-six), 2 forced fumbles.
CB Artie Burns: Deep backup.

Obviously, the Seahawks' secondary is banged up.

Friday notes:

• Smith appears to be trending toward playing, if the local beats are to be trusted.

• Witherspoon and Adams still haven't practiced. The Eagles will welcome the potential absence of Witherspoon, but again, they'd probably rather see Adams in the lineup.

Saturday notes:

• I don't know if the Seahawks are just being flippant with their injury reporting or not, but three guys (Witherspoon, Adamas, and Bellore) didn't practice all week, and all three are listed as "questionable." Players that don't practice all week usually don't play.

Pete Carroll wasn't very helpful during his Saturday press conference.

Pete Carroll was unusually unforthcoming today with his comments on Geno Smith, Devon Witherspoon and the three other players the Seahawks list as questionable for MNF. Said Smith made it through the week of practice and will be a game-day decision. pic.twitter.com/wEBH4oaWTe
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) December 16, 2023

Geno Smith is thought to be a "gametime decision."

Monday notes:

Again, as we said in the Eagles' "Monday notes" above, Smith is now considered a "longshot" to play.

Notable players on IR, PUP, suspension, etc.

• EDGE Uchenna Nwosu: Nwosu is one of the NFL's more underrated players, in my opinion. In 2022, he had 66 tackles (12 for loss), 9.5 sacks, 26 QB hits, 3 forced fumbles, 2 recoveries, and 4 pass breakups. He suffered a pectoral injury in October and had season-ending surgery.

• OG Phil Haynes: Haynes had started 8 games (7 at RG, 1 at LG) for the Seahawks this season. He landed on IR with a toe injury. Rookie fourth-round pick Anthony Bradford has taken over as the starter at RG.

• DL Mike Morris: Rookie fifth-round pick played Week 1 (3 tackles), but landed on IR with a shoulder injury.

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