Eagles coach Nick Sirianni has little to say about Jordan Davis’ injury

On Monday evening, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni declined to confirm the severity of defensive tackle Jordan Davis’ ankle injury, which the team’s top rookie suffered during the Week 8 victory over the Steelers.

A league source confirmed to The Inquirer that Davis suffered a high ankle sprain. This injury typically requires players to miss from four to six weeks. But Sirianni said the team is still gathering information on the severity of Davis’ injury.

“We’re still working on that,” Sirianni said. “I’m never going to put a timetable. He probably won’t be [playing] this week. We’ll see how everything goes. He has an ankle [injury], but I don’t know the extent of it yet or how long he’s going to be out.”

Pressed further on whether Davis’ injury should be considered significant or season-ending, Sirianni remained tight-lipped.

“I don’t have that information quite yet,” he said.

Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon is now tasked with replacing Davis’ snaps, specifically on the unit’s five-man fronts, where the first-round pick from Georgia was a fixture across the middle. Davis’ snaps increased as the season progressed, and there arguably isn’t another player on the defense who’s capable of eating up space and attracting multiple blockers in the ways that the 6-foot-6, 336-pound Davis can.

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His presence was most felt on running plays. Over the course of the next five games, the Eagles face a couple of run-heavy teams in the Colts (Week 11) and Titans (Week 13). After Davis exited Sunday’s game, second-year defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu received his largest workload of the year. He finished with a season-high 36 defensive snaps. The team also might rely more on veteran Javon Hargrave or second-year defensive tackle Milton Williams. Practice-squad defensive lineman Marvin Wilson is another option.

“If [Wilson] is called upon in this game [Thursday at Houston], he’ll be ready to go,” Sirianni said. “We have confidence in him. It’s not blind faith; we’re seeing him work every day. We have a lot of faith in him if his number’s called upon.”

General manager Howie Roseman will need to act quickly if the team decides that any external help is needed. The NFL’s trade deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday. Last week, the Eagles acquired accomplished pass rusher Robert Quinn in a trade with the Bears.

Looking ahead, the Eagles (7-0) are facing their quickest turnaround of the year. After they defeated the Steelers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, they’ll play the Texans (1-5-1) on Thursday night at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

The Eagles do not have a single practice scheduled over the next three days. Rather, Sirianni and his staff are prioritizing recovery with an emphasis on walk-throughs and meetings.

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“It’s pretty unique. We were able to get a lot of work done [preparing for the Texans] during the bye week,” Sirianni said. “The way we walk through, the way we meet, we talk about these things all the time. Not only does your intensity in practice need to be extremely high and detailed, but it needs to be that way in the walk-through, too. You’re full speed in your mind. ... This is our process, regardless of if it’s a short week or a regular week. It just so happens on this short week, we have walk-throughs and meetings to get guys ready to go.”

The Eagles announced that they signed cornerback Javelin Guidry to the practice squad. In a corresponding move, the team released wide receiver Deon Cain.

The team might need additional depth at secondary after reserve defensive back Josiah Scott suffered his own ankle injury during Sunday’s game.

Guidry went undrafted out of Utah in 2020. He has played in 31 NFL games (five starts) over three seasons with the Jets and Raiders. Guidry has recorded 70 tackles with three passes defensed and four forced fumbles.

“The guys that are on the practice squad, we feel like we can bring them up and they’ll be ready to make plays in a game,” Sirianni said. “We’re evaluating the practice-squad players all the time with the different things we’re doing with them.”