The Eagles will be without their top cornerback Darius Slay as they take on one of the best trios of wide receivers in the NFL.
Slay did not pass through the NFL’s concussion protocol and is not traveling with the team to Arizona to face the Cardinals on Sunday. He’s officially ruled out.
Slay, 29, has been banged up this year but this will be the first game he’s missed all year.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Grayland Arnold (hamstring) and Jason Huntley (illness) are also staying behind in Philadelphia as the Eagles travel, so they’re out too. Meanwhile, Malik Jackson (concussion) did clear the concussion protocol and is traveling with the team. As long as he stays symptom free, he’ll be able to play.
But without Slay, the Eagles will have to face DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk without their top cornerbacks. In addition to missing Slay, the Eagles also put Avonte Maddox and Rodney McLeod on IR this week.
And remember, the Eagles still have Craig James and Cre’Von LeBlanc on IR too.
The Eagles are incredibly light in their secondary this week, which is bad timing against these three receivers.
NFL
To combat that, the Eagles have elevated CB Jameson Houston and S Blake Countess from the practice squad for tomorrow’s game.
Without their top two corners, there’s a very good chance the Eagles will slide Jalen Mills from safety to cornerback on Sunday. The Eagles’ top cornerbacks without him are Nickell Robey-Coleman, Michael Jacquet and Kevon Seymour. It seems likely that NRC will start as an outside corner and slide inside in the nickel package as we’ve seen him do at times this year.
If Mills moves to corner, the Eagles can play K’Von Wallace and Marcus Epps at safety.
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube