The Eagles find themselves in a bind just a couple of weeks into the 2023 season. The team has dealt with injuries to a handful of starters; perhaps the most significant occurred during the Thursday night victory over the Minnesota Vikings, when cornerback Avonte Maddox sustained a pectoral injury.
Maddox underwent an MRI on Friday, according to league sources, and he is expected to receive a second opinion. If his pec is confirmed to be torn, Maddox likely would be out for the season.
Maddox is a key contributor to the defense, but he’s struggled to stay on the field in recent years. He’s coming off a 2022 campaign in which he missed seven regular-season games due to injury. The Eagles already are without Zech McPhearson, their primary reserve at slot cornerback, who sustained a torn Achilles tendon during the preseason.
With Maddox expected to miss a significant amount of time, what’s next for a team with Super Bowl aspirations?
Below are several contingency options, listed in order of likelihood based on what we’re hearing.
All-Pro James Bradberry moves to slot
All-Pro cornerback James Bradberry leads the NFL with 79 passes defensed since 2018. He’s appeared exclusively at outside cornerback over his eight-year career, with previous stints playing for the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants before he joined the Eagles in 2022.
Bradberry has thrived on the outside, and the Eagles rewarded him with a three-year contract extension worth $38 million in free agency.
However, if the Eagles don’t feel entirely comfortable entrusting second-year player Mario Goodrich with responsibilities at the nickel, then slotting Bradberry inside (no pun intended) might make sense. That would leave second-year player Josh Jobe to man the outside opposite Darius Slay.
Bradberry missed Week 2 with a concussion, but, according to league sources, he remains on track to return next Monday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bradberry, who collided with teammate Terrell Edmunds in the regular-season opener at New England, has developed his reputation as an ironman, appearing in 97 of 100 potential regular-season games dating back to 2017.
Defensive coordinator Sean Desai actually experimented with Bradberry at the slot throughout training camp. That thought process with Bradberry moving inside, according to league sources, was initially intended to be matchup-based this season. The expectation was Bradberry would line up against specific tight ends, such as the Vikings’ T.J. Hockenson, the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, and the Giants’ Darren Waller, with coaches favoring Bradberry’s size (6-foot-1), lengthy frame, and his physicality enforced
Could James Bradberry shift over? Will a reserve like Mario Goodrich be called on to step up? Or will the Eagles bring in a free agent?
The Eagles find themselves in a bind just a couple of weeks into the 2023 season. The team has dealt with injuries to a handful of starters; perhaps the most significant occurred during the Thursday night victory over the Minnesota Vikings, when cornerback Avonte Maddox sustained a pectoral injury.
Maddox underwent an MRI on Friday, according to league sources, and he is expected to receive a second opinion. If his pec is confirmed to be torn, Maddox likely would be out for the season.
Maddox is a key contributor to the defense, but he’s struggled to stay on the field in recent years. He’s coming off a 2022 campaign in which he missed seven regular-season games due to injury. The Eagles already are without Zech McPhearson, their primary reserve at slot cornerback, who sustained a torn Achilles tendon during the preseason.
With Maddox expected to miss a significant amount of time, what’s next for a team with Super Bowl aspirations?
Below are several contingency options, listed in order of likelihood based on what we’re hearing.
All-Pro James Bradberry moves to slot
All-Pro cornerback James Bradberry leads the NFL with 79 passes defensed since 2018. He’s appeared exclusively at outside cornerback over his eight-year career, with previous stints playing for the Carolina Panthers and New York Giants before he joined the Eagles in 2022.
Bradberry has thrived on the outside, and the Eagles rewarded him with a three-year contract extension worth $38 million in free agency.
However, if the Eagles don’t feel entirely comfortable entrusting second-year player Mario Goodrich with responsibilities at the nickel, then slotting Bradberry inside (no pun intended) might make sense. That would leave second-year player Josh Jobe to man the outside opposite Darius Slay.
Bradberry missed Week 2 with a concussion, but, according to league sources, he remains on track to return next Monday at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bradberry, who collided with teammate Terrell Edmunds in the regular-season opener at New England, has developed his reputation as an ironman, appearing in 97 of 100 potential regular-season games dating back to 2017.
Defensive coordinator Sean Desai actually experimented with Bradberry at the slot throughout training camp. That thought process with Bradberry moving inside, according to league sources, was initially intended to be matchup-based this season. The expectation was Bradberry would line up against specific tight ends, such as the Vikings’ T.J. Hockenson, the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, and the Giants’ Darren Waller, with coaches favoring Bradberry’s size (6-foot-1), lengthy frame, and his physicality enforced at the line of scrimmage.
But with McPhearson and Maddox sidelined, Bradberry’s move to the inside could come sooner than expected — and on a full-time basis, at least for this season.
Next man up: Mario Goodrich? What about Sydney Brown?
Goodrich, 23, handled a majority of snaps at the nickel following Maddox’s departure. The Clemson product spent the 2022 season on the practice squad and made the team’s 53-man roster this past month.
On Thursday night, Goodrich appeared in 39 defensive snaps, including 35 coverage snaps. Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins went his way often as Goodrich allowed six receptions, including one touchdown, on six targets.
With Maddox and McPhearson out, the Eagles don’t have any obvious candidates at the slot beyond Goodrich. Backup cornerbacks Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks are viewed primarily as outside cornerbacks. Desai also could experiment with other personnel in the slot, such as athletic rookie safety Sydney Brown.
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