The final injury report ahead of Monday’s Wild Card Round playoff game between the Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been released and the team will be without All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Brown due to a knee injury.
“He won’t be in,” Head Coach Nick Sirianni said on Saturday morning. “It was going to be a stretch for A.J. to play. He did everything he possibly could to get himself ready. … He fought like crazy to try to do everything that he could do to do so, which doesn’t surprise me at all about A.J. He’s tough, and he’d do anything for his teammates. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to rip it this week.”
Sirianni said it would be a group effort to replace Brown’s production on the field. In the Week 3 win in Tampa Bay, Brown kicked off his NFL-record six straight games with 125 or more yards, catching nine passes for 131 yards.
“I think that’s one of our big strengths as a team,” Sirianni said. “You think about A.J. You think about Dallas (Goedert). You think about DeVonta (Smith). And then you think about D’Andre (Swift), the role that he has as well. I’m not even mentioning Julio (Jones) and those guys, Quez (Watkins) and OZ (Olamide Zaccheaus), who have made plays throughout the year as well, so I’m excited for those guys to get a little bit more opportunity.”
As for the man delivering the ball to those pass catchers, Jalen Hurts, Sirianni said that the quarterback “had a good practice” on Friday. Hurts is dealing with a dislocated finger on his throwing (right) hand. Hurts was a full participant on Saturday and is good to go for Monday night.
“He’s fighting through the finger injury, but he had a good practice yesterday, so excited for him and this opportunity. Really excited,” Sirianni said. “The energy and the juice in this building today of being here in the playoffs again, we’re really excited. We can’t wait.”
Rookie Sydney Brown is out for the year with a knee injury. The Eagles will decide what to do with his roster spot before Monday night’s game. Starting safety Reed Blankenship did not practice all week with a groin injury suffered in the Week 18 game against the Giants, but is questionable and, Sirianni said, will be a game-time decision. Sirianni acknowledged that nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox could be a potential option on the back end of the defense.
“Avonte has flexibility,” Sirianni said. “We rep guys at different spots throughout the week. … I feel confident with Avonte…
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