Eagles Get Brutal Injury Updates on Two Key Starters for Thursday Night Football Week 2
In case you weren’t bothered enough by the fact that the Eagles almost blew that Week 1 win over the New England Patriots, it turns out there’s more to be unhappy about from that game.
A couple key injuries popped up that didn’t necessarily seem too serious at the time, but now they’re proving to clearly be big issues in a short week ahead of our Week 2 Thursday Night Football matchup against the Minnesota Vikings.
Nick Sirianni declined to address #Eagles’ injures, but S Reed Blankenship (ribs) and RB Kenny Gainwell (ribs) trending toward not being ready from what I’m hearing.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) September 13, 2023
CB James Bradberry still in protocol. DT Fletcher Cox (ribs) should be ready.
Report released this afternoon.
Eagles Week 2 Injury Updates
Reports from Eagles insider Jeff McLane are that both Reed Blankenship and Kenneth Gainwell are trending toward not playing on Thursday thanks to their respective rib injuries. Neither one has practiced yet this week, and while Nick Sirianni is playing coy, this looks pretty grim for both of them.
Luckily, these are two positions of major depth for Philly. Offensive coordinator Brian Johnson clearly wanted Gainwell to be a workhorse, but it’s not like we’re shy on depth behind him.
D’Andre Swift has been my pick to be the RB1 this season anyway, and we’ve seen him handle some significant volume as both a rusher and receiver over his career.
Boston Scott will continue to play his large special teams role as usual, and this paves the way for Rashaad Penny to be active after remaining in street clothes for Week 1. Swift and Penny figure to be a formidable one-two punch with a ton of explosive upside, and I’m not worried about the offense missing a beat.
As for Blankenship, he’s the best safety in this secondary, but safety is another position where we have no shortage of talent.
Justin Evans started alongside Blankenship in Week 1, and that means both Terrell Edmunds and Sydney Brown are options to replace Blankenship in the lineup. Brown didn’t play any defensive snaps in his debut (only appearing on special teams), while Edmund did rotate in for 10 snaps.
It should also be easier for the veteran to get the game plan down on a short week, so I give a clear edge to Edmunds as far as getting the start on Thursday night. We should still get to see Brown play his first defensive reps though, as it’s unlikely either Edmunds or Reed play 100% of the snaps.
Despite the worries brought on by this injury news, the Eagles are still favored by a touchdown playing at home at the Linc, and fans don’t need to be too concerned about injuries at positions where we have so much depth.
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