Look who’s back: Safety Anthony Harris returns to the Eagles, could play vs. Bears

Anthony Harris never left the group chat.

The veteran safety, who started 14 games for the Eagles last year, his only season in Philadelphia, was released by the Eagles on Aug. 30, the day they acquired C.J. Gardner-Johnson from New Orleans.

The Eagles brought Harris back on their practice squad the following day, but the two sides mutually agreed to part ways five days later.

Harris joined the Denver Broncos a week later. He played in just three games, only on special teams, before being released in early December for the third time in three months. The Eagles brought Harris back to the practice squad this week, and he could be needed on the field sooner than later as the Eagles deal with injuries at the safety position.

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You don’t get kicked out of the group chat when you leave town, however, so to some Harris didn’t go far.

“Heck, no,” cornerback Darius Slay said. “We are friends. We are besties. The group chat is just for the gang. We hang together. It’s not like since you’re not part of the team you can’t be in it. He’s part of my family. … We’re glad to have him back. It’s crazy how the world works. You just come back in circles.”

For Harris, this circle has some layers.

The Eagles decided at the end of camp that Gardner-Johnson would be Harris’ replacement. Three months later, Gardner-Johnson’s rib and kidney injuries and the related health concerns at the safety position — Reed Blankenship was carted off the field vs. the Giants and won’t play in Sunday’s game in Chicago — made way for a reunion.

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The 31-year-old Harris isn’t harboring any hard feelings. He’s happy to be back.

“As you go through the business, you spend a lot of time with guys here and you preach connecting,” Harris said Friday. “That’s one of the things that I felt like this group has done, from when I came in.”

The Eagles have just two healthy safeties, Marcus Epps and K’Von Wallace, on the active roster. Harris is an option to be activated and play Sunday vs. Chicago, but it’s not clear what the Eagles will do. They have the option of using cornerback Josiah Scott as the third safety if needed.

The Bears tend to beat you on the ground. They rank last in passing yards (140.6 yards per game) and first in rushing (189.2), just ahead of the Eagles. In that regard, Wallace, who is much better against the run than the pass, is most likely to see an uptick in playing time with Blankenship out.

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Harris didn’t indicate Friday whether he expected to be activated Sunday. The Eagles could opt to get through Sunday’s game without him and reevaluate the situation at safety going into next week’s game in Dallas.

“My preparation has always been prepare to go,” Harris said. “If you do that, the rest handles itself. I’m not really getting too tied up into playing or not playing.”

This week, Harris said, has been about diving back into being a member of the Eagles.

But the full-circle component of returning to Philly just three months after he left had him reflecting. Harris looked over at defensive tackle Linval Joseph’s locker stall. Joseph was signed by the Eagles during Harris’ absence, but Harris and Joseph were teammates in Minnesota. He remembered how Joseph pushed and motivated him as a rookie.

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Harris’ eyes scanned to defensive end Brandon Graham’s stall. It “seemed like yesterday” Harris was talking to Graham about the recovery process and staying “locked in” after his 2021 torn Achilles tendon.

“For him to come back from that type of injury and have the season he’s having, it’s all beautiful to see everything come back around,” Harris said.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni wouldn’t say Friday if tight end Dallas Goedert will play Sunday in Chicago.

“I don’t want to put a timetable on it and then he doesn’t go or say no and then he does,” Sirianni said.

All indications are that Goedert, who returned to practice Wednesday after four weeks on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, will make his return to the field.

Goedert, who has 43 catches for 544 yards and three scores in nine games, hasn’t appeared on the official injury report all week since he’s not yet on the active roster. If Goedert is to play Sunday, the Eagles will have to make a roster move.

Blankenship (knee), who is out Sunday, was the only member of the 53-man roster who wasn’t a full participant in practice Friday.