November 29, 2022
The Philadelphia Eagles are going to be without starting safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson for a while after he suffered a lacerated kidney Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers. With Gardner-Johnson out, is there a safety out there just ready to be picked up by a contender in need for the stretch run, like Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh were at defensive tackle?
The short answer is... probably not. But let's look at their options.
Marcus Epps is the other starting safety. As you saw on Sunday night, Reed Blankenship filled in for Gardner-Johnson, and had a very eventful night (mostly good, some bad).
The Eagles also have K'Von Wallace and Andre Chachere on their active roster. Wallace was recently demoted from No. 3 safety to No. 4 safety to make way for Blankenship, while Chachere was called up from the practice squad three weeks ago.
If Gardner-Johnson lands on injured reserve, the Eagles' depth chart will look like this.
| 1 | 2 |
| Marcus Epps | K'Von Wallace |
| Reed Blankenship | Andre Chachere |
They also have fourth-year safety Marquise Blair on their practice squad. Blair has appeared in 25 career games (with the Seahawks and Panthers), with three starts. He has 50 career tackles, and three forced fumbles.
If the Eagles had interest in poaching a safety off of another teams' practice squad, they probably already would have instead of promoting Chachere. Perhaps if they want to have five safeties on their roster, that's a possibility. There are three players on practice squads who have already been with the Eagles:
• Elijah Riley, Steelers: Riley played in five games for the Eagles in 2020 and 2021. He also started seven games for the Jets in 2021, collecting 45 tackles and a sack.
• Jared Mayden, Jets: Mayden played in four games for the Eagles in 2021. 6 tackles.
• Ugo Amadi, Chiefs: You may recall during training camp that the Eagles traded J.J. Arcega-Whiteside for Amadi, and then 10 days later they traded Amadi to the Titans along with a seventh-round pick to the Titans for a sixth-round pick. He does not feel like an option.
There were two interesting names that stood out among practice squad players around the league:
• Landon Collins, Giants: Collins is an eighth-year safety who made three Pro Bowls with the Giants earlier in his career before signing with Washington as a free agent. In 2021 in Washington, Collins had 81 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INTs, a forced fumble, and 3 recoveries in 13 games. He's probably more of a linebacker at this stage of his career than he is a reliable safety, though he might make sense against run-heavy offenses on the Eagles' upcoming schedule like the Titans, Giants, and Bears. He would also potentially bring with him insight on the Giants' offensive and defensive schemes.
• Terrell Burgess Giants: Burgess was a third-round pick of the Rams in 2020. They cut him a few weeks ago, and the Giants added him to their practice squad. He played in seven games for the Rams this season, with one start.
There aren't any obvious fixes at safety like there were at defensive tackle, when the Eagles added Suh and Joseph. Perusing the available safeties, the most recognizable names are guys like Andrew Sendejo, Andrew Adams, Jeff Heath, Jaquiski Tartt, etc.
A fan favorite would of course be Malcolm Jenkins, who retired in March at the age of 34 after 13 NFL seasons. Like Collins above, Jenkins was probably more of a linebacker than he was a safety near the end of his career, but again, you can squint and make some sense of adding him for the purpose of defending run-heavy offenses. For what it's worth, Jenkins said on a podcast with John Clark that he is still in shape, and he still thinks he can play.
“I can still play. I’m still in shape. I’m still working out. It’s not far fetched. I’m still in it. I do enjoy my seat watching as a fan, but I could come in for a stretch”
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) November 29, 2022
-Malcolm Jenkins before CJGJ’s injury and he loves CJGJ
🎧Podcast with Malcolm⬇️https://t.co/2DH3zYwU54 pic.twitter.com/0MCoFpWcpY
So, you know, it's maybe not so crazy for Howie Roseman to lob in a phone call to an old friend?
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