Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat carted off field with neck injury

Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat was carted off the field with a neck injury less than six minutes into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

Sweat was placed on a stretcher and slowly driven off the field during the Saints’ first drive. The Eagles said that Sweat had movement in all of his extremities. He was taken to a local hospital and was expected to be released Sunday night, according to the team.

He was injured after tackling Saints fullback Adam Prentice. The entire Eagles sideline emptied to be around Sweat after he was placed on the cart, and Lincoln Financial Field went quiet before breaking out in “Sweat!” chants.

Sweat appeared to give a thumbs up as he went into the tunnel. He is having his best season in his fifth year with the Eagles. He entered Sunday with 11 sacks and returned an interception for a touchdown in the Eagles’ Christmas Eve loss in Dallas.

“It’s hard, man,” Eagles quarterback Gardner Minshew said. “A guy that you’re with every day that you care about goes down and you don’t know what’s going on. It’s one of those deals where you know it could be any one of us. It’s pretty sobering.”

Without Sweat, the Eagles still got after Saints quarterback Andy Dalton along with Taysom Hill when he played the position. They piled up seven sacks, with two apiece by Haason Reddick and Brandon Graham, registering eight quarterback hits in the 20-10 loss.

“At the end of it, I just prayed for him and hoped his health was all right at the end of the day,” Reddick said. “Because he’s an amazing piece to what we have and why we’re successful. I would’ve loved to have him out there all game. His health is more important than anything right now. So I’m just praying for him. I hope he comes out on top of the situation he’s in right now.”