Eagles sign veteran DT Linval Joseph, place Dallas Goedert and Marlon Tuipulotu on injured reserve

The Eagles made a flurry of roster moves Wednesday afternoon, signing veteran defensive tackle Linval Joseph and placing Dallas Goedert and Marlon Tuipulotu on injured reserve.

Joseph, 34, played for the Los Angeles Chargers last season and figures to take Tuipulotu’s role as the short-term replacement for Jordan Davis at the heart of the Eagles’ defense. The 6-foot-4, 329-pound lineman is a capable nose tackle who can plug multiple gaps, something the Eagles defense has missed significantly since Davis went on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.

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“That’s a big dude,” Eagles defensive tackle Milton Williams said. “Just having a big like him in the middle, he definitely is going to command some attention.”

Goedert and Tuipulotu will miss at least four games after being placed on IR. Goedert suffered a shoulder injury in the Eagles’ 32-21 loss to the Washington Commanders on Monday night and, while the injury shouldn’t sideline the tight end for the rest of the season, he is expected to miss extended time. Goedert walked through the Eagles locker room Wednesday with his left arm in a sling.

With their newfound roster space, the Eagles activated tight end Tyree Jackson off the practice squad Wednesday. Jackson flashed potential as an undrafted rookie in 2021, but a torn ACL suffered in Week 18 last season sidelined him going into this season. Now that he has returned to the fold, he figures to challenge reserve tight ends Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra for playing time in Goedert’s absence.

Replacing Goedert’s contributions to the Eagles offense will be a significant challenge. Aside from his 43 catches for 544 yards and three touchdowns, Goedert is a key cog in the Eagles’ ability to throw out of heavy personnel packages and run out of lighter ones. He has a track record of being one of the best blocking tight ends in the league to go along with his ability to create yardage after the catch in the passing game.

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Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Wednesday that the loss of Goedert will lead to more targets for receivers A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Quez Watkins and will require using several backup tight ends to fill the void in snaps.

“How do we replace him? You can’t,” Sirianni said of Goedert. “You have to do it by committee. We have tight ends that we have a lot of faith in in this building. It will start with them. Then it goes to where some of those targets go, some of them will probably go to A.J., probably a couple of them go to DeVonta. You have backs that get intertwined in that, you have slot receivers that get intertwined with that with Quez.

“You’re not going to be able to duplicate everything he does because he has a unique skill set,” Sirianni added. “You try to find out who can do what he does and you put that stuff in your offense. Some of it, you might lose some of your stuff in your offense.”

Stoll has logged the most offensive snaps this season and is a willing blocker. Calcaterra is the better receiving threat but is less experienced helping out in the running game. The rookie out of Southern Methodist said he has been working after practice on blocking with former Eagles tight end Brent Celek and tight ends coach Jason Michael, and his progress is apparent.

“I feel like I’ve seen improvement watching [my] film,” Calcaterra said. “I just keep doing that every day. ... I think it’s the most important thing as a tight end is just being able to do both things. That’s what makes you a real threat on offense.”

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Tuipulotu’s injury was not disclosed in the team’s announcement. The 23-year-old has been a part of the defensive-tackle rotation all season, but he got his first career start against Washington as defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon tries to find a way to shore up the Eagles’ run defense without Davis anchoring things. Tuipulotu finished Monday night’s game without an obvious injury.

Davis will miss at least the next two games with the ankle sprain he suffered against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 30. During this stretch, Joseph figures to be the newest attempt to fix a run defense that has surrendered 154 yards per game over the last three contests. It’s worth mentioning that the Eagles face three of the league’s best running backs in the next three weeks: the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, the Packers’ Aaron Jones, and Titans star Derrick Henry.

Williams said a player capable of plugging gaps like Davis or Joseph helps the defense function.

“It definitely makes it easier when you’ve got somebody like that,” Williams said. “They command double teams because, if you single them, they’re going to destroy the play. So they command double teams and free up a lot of other guys on our defensive line, linebackers, it changes everything for our defense. We definitely have missed Jordan, but we obviously still have to get the job done whether he’s there or not.”

This year will be Joseph’s 13th in the NFL. He played six years for the Minnesota Vikings, four years for the New York Giants, and most recently two years with the Chargers. He overlapped with Gannon and linebackers coach Nick Rallis during his time with the Vikings and the Eagles played against him last season.

Sirianni said the team is hopeful that Joseph will be up to speed in time to play against the Colts this Sunday.

“There’s been a lot of guys that have had experience with him,” the coach said. “We think he’s the right type of guy for our locker room, we think he’s still a heck of a football player and he’s going to be able to help us.”

The Eagles also signed safety Marquise Blair to the practice squad and opened the 21-day practice window for injured edge rusher Janarius Robinson on Wednesday.