Philadelphia Eagles: Josiah Scott and Jack Driscoll bring back the cavalry

The Philadelphia Eagles have been hit with a bit of bad luck as of late.

Though they’ve only been on the field for three games, the team has already added seven players to injured reserve with two more – Jason Croom and Michael Walker – on the list from the preseason.

Is that the worst mark in the league? No. A few teams have somehow added even more, but when you’re trying to win games consistently, that lack of continuity is an absolute killer.

Fortunately, not all trips to IR are season-enders. No, under the NFL’s new rules, an unlimited number of players who are added to IR during the regular season are eligible to return after three weeks on the mend, as opposed to two after eight weeks in years prior.

What does that mean for the Eagles in Week 4? Well, it means that both Jack Driscoll and
Josiah Scott have officially been activated off of injured reserve and are eligible to play in the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 4 bout against Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Needles to say, this is very good news.

The Philadelphia Eagles just got back some much-needed reinforcements.

The Philadelphia Eagles offensive line and cornerbacks corps are in very different positions as the team heads into Week 4.

Initially viewed as the team’s biggest strength, the Eagles will be starting three different offensive linemen in Week 4 than they did in Week 1, Isaac Seumalo and Brandon Brooks on IR, and Jordan Mailata out for the second-straight week with a knee injury. While the team is fairly well-positioned to weather these absences, as Andre Dillard played well in Mailata’s absence and both Nate Herbig and Landon Dickerson present unique upsides as interior offensive linemen, elevating said duo into the starting five leaves the team relatively light in terms of depth, with only Jack Anderson, Sua Opeta, and combo guard/tackle Brett Toth on the active roster.

The cornerbacks unit, by contrast, has been better than expected and fairly reliable in terms of injury.

With their top three cornerbacks – Darius Slay, Steven Nelson, and Avonte Maddox – all performing better than expected through the season’s first three weeks and a deep bench of reserves in Zech McPhearson, Mac McCain, and hybrid DB Andre Chachere all waiting on the bench for their next opportunity, the Eagles have been surprisingly competent at cornerback so far this season, even if their depth at safety has been tested far harsher over the month of September.

While the situations may be different, the returns of Josiah Scott and Jack Driscoll could not be any more welcomed heading into the month of October.

In Scott, the Eagles have a reliable backup slot cornerback who could be a fixture of the team’s dime defense versus KC. Measuring in at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, Scott isn’t going to woo anyone with his athletic proficiency but at Michigan State, the eventual fourth-round pick was a certified playmaker around the ball with incredibly smooth hips and a pension for wrapping up as a tackler.

And as for Driscoll? Well, he’s a certified swing lineman who can reliably fill in at either guard or tackle position across the line. One of the most athletically gifted linemen in the league who finished in the 91st percentile at the 40-yard dash and the 95th percentile in the broad jump according to Mockdraftable, Driscoll can provide peace of mind for Nick Sirianni on gamedays while simultaneously finding some on-field action as a supplemental tackle on obvious rushing downs.

Gosh, do you remember when the Eagles would trot out six, sometimes even seven offensive linemen under Doug Pederson when he really wanted to move the chains at the point of attack? Whoda ever thought that’d be something fans would be nostalgic for?

In the NFL, the only real constant is change. Players will play very well only to suffer a season-ending injury, others will shine for a bit before tailing off, while others still will rise up the ranks from obscure to undeniable and will become long-term factors with the team for years to come. If the Philadelphia Eagles can continue to take these knocks on the chin with grace and weather the inevitable roster fluidity that comes with a 17 game NFL season, they’ll be rewarded with the returns of players like Josiah Scott and Jack Driscoll, which could serve as a morale booster in a brutally long season.