Eagles rule out Jalen Carter, Darius Slay, Quez Watkins against the Jets
The Eagles also have a question mark at safety with Justin Evans placed on injured reserve and Sydney Brown listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Jets.
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Darius Slay, Jalen Carter, and Quez Watkins were ruled out Friday for the Eagles’ upcoming game against the New York Jets after each player missed the final practice of the week.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni had said both Slay and Carter’s injuries shouldn’t keep them sidelined for significant time. Carter is dealing with an ankle injury suffered during Wednesday’s practice while Slay has missed the entire week with a knee injury.
Watkins wasn’t at practice Friday and was later ruled out with a hamstring injury on the injury report. The No. 3 receiver missed two games with a hamstring injury before returning for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Eagles also ruled out safety Justin Evans (knee) and listed safety Sydney Brown (hamstring) and defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu (triceps) as questionable for Sunday’s game at MetLife Stadium. The team placed Evans on injured reserve and used the roster spot he vacated to sign slot cornerback Bradley Roby, who signed with the team last week, to the active roster.
Injuries in the secondary have become commonplace for the Eagles through the first six weeks of the season. Slot cornerback Avonte Maddox suffered a likely season-ending injury after two games and safety Reed Blankenship and Evans missed one game apiece.
Evans didn’t practice all week, leaving the Eagles thin at the safety spot opposite Blankenship once again. When Evans was sidelined in Week 4 against the Washington Commanders, the Eagles started Terrell Edmunds in his place. Considering Brown was a limited participant in practice all week with a hamstring injury that’s sidelined him for the last two games, Edmunds figures to be the starter opposite Blankenship once again.
At cornerback, the Eagles will likely turn to second-year cornerback Josh Jobe to replace Slay. The team used Jobe at the outside cornerback spot opposite Slay to facilitate James Bradberry spending some time at nickel cornerback after Maddox’s injury. The undrafted free agent out of Alabama earned the top reserve cornerback spot with a solid training camp and has played reasonably well so far this season. According to Pro Football Focus, Jobe has been targeted 24 times this season and has allowed 13 catches, although he’s given up 12.9 yards per catch conceded.
Even with all the moving pieces, the Eagles passing defense has avoided being too great a liability. According to FTN Fantasy, which measures defense-adjusted value over average, the Eagles rank 19th in DVOA against the pass so far this season.
“We want our guys to be prepared,” Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai said. “We take a lot of pride in our preparation. We want our guys to be prepared. I think our staff does a tremendous job doing that and then communication on game day is critical.”
Carter’s absence will affect the Eagles defense both against the run and pass, though. The first-round rookie out of Georgia has 3 1/2 sacks so far this season and has 23 pressures according to Pro Football Focus, which is tied with Rams star Aaron Donald for the most among defensive tackles.
Carter played a season-high 70% of the Eagles defensive snaps against the Rams, partially because of veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox’s absence with a back injury. Cox will return to the lineup after missing last weekend’s game, which was the first the 32-year-old has missed due to injury since the 2020 season.
The Eagles may also get Nakobe Dean back from a foot injury that landed him on injured reserve. The second-year linebacker is eligible to return from IR and was a full participant in practice on Friday, but the team will need to make a roster move to clear a spot for him before Saturday evening’s deadline.
The Eagles visit the New York Jets on Sunday. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from MetLife Stadium.