The Philadelphia Eagles are likely to go to the playoffs after snapping a three-game losing streak against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday and, with a win against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, they can clinch the NFC East title and secure their fifth straight trip to the playoffs.
With the division virtually wrapped up, the Eagles can have one eye toward their postseason plans and an area of discussion is at safety. That group has been led by Reed Blankenship and the emergence of Marcus Epps in recent weeks, but there was some murkiness as rookie Andrew Mukuba worked his way back from a fractured ankle.
While Mukuba is eligible to come off injured reserve this week, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio slammed the door on that possibility and signaled some clarity at safety with his comments to reporters on Wednesday.
“He might be eligible to come off, but he isn’t coming off,” Fangio said via The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane.
Eagles Likely Rolling with Marcus Epps over Andrew Mukuba for the Rest of the Season
The Eagles safety position next to Blankenship has been a revolving door and Mukuba’s potential return could have added another new face to the mix. Mukuba has had an uneven rookie season, typically drawing criticism from Fangio and posting 46 total tackles with two interceptions and three pass deflections. At the very least, it felt like he could grab some depth to the group but Epps may have made that unnecessary.
A veteran who came back to Philadelphia after spending the last two seasons in Los Angeles, Epps has recorded 10 total tackles and has started each of the past two games. According to Pro Football Focus, Epps has played well, logging an overall grade of 65.0 against the Los Angeles Chargers and a 69.6 overall grade in last week’s win over the Raiders but he has yet to miss a tackle attempt this season. Do PFF grades tell the whole story? No, but ascending numbers are always encouraging.
The last part may be why Fangio would like to roll with the veteran. While Mukuba has 30 tackles on the year, he’s missed six of them for a 12.8% clip and if his ankle isn’t healed, it may not be worth it to keep him out there as the defense needs to stay on point with Philadelphia’s uneven performance on offense this season.
This gives Epps the edge for the rest of the regular season, into the playoffs and potentially into next season. While it could be a health-related decision, Mukuba has room for growth whenever he returns to the field, which may not be until 2026 at the rate things are going.