PHILADELPHIA – It seems fitting that the Philadelphia Eagles will try to save their season, and perhaps the job of head coach Nick Sirianni, without their best offensive player, receiver A.J. Brown, when they play in the NFC Wild Card at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
It probably didn’t need to be this way.
The Eagles knew the dangers that the turf in MetLife Stadium presented in a Week 18 game that didn’t mean much, yet they went ahead and played their starters in a mostly meaningless game last week against the New York Giants.
Sure, a win over the New York Giants and a loss by the Dallas Cowboys over the Washington Commanders would have given Philly its second straight NFC East title, but the odds of that happening were minuscule.
The Cowboys won, 35-10, and the Commanders, by losing, wrapped up the second pick in the NFL draft. As you can see, Josh Harris, no stranger to tanking, had no intention of losing if he actually won the game.
The Eagles broke down and lost confidence, losing to the Giants, who took a 24-0 halftime lead and never allowed the Eagles to get back into the game.
Brown suffered a knee injury in the first quarter.
Rookie safety Sydney Brown tore his ACL after two games.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts is scheduled to play Monday, but is dealing with the middle finger of his hand that popped up in the second quarter that day. Safety Reid Blankenship injured his groin somewhere along the line.
And here it is.
Brown is out and Blankenship is questionable. If he can’t play, the Eagles will have a healthy defensive back in Kevin Byard. That means Avonte Maddox will be the No. 2 pick and Bradley Roby will likely take Maddox’s spot in the slot. Coach Nick Sirianni said he doesn’t regret his decision to start against the Giants on Saturday.
“We went through it,” the coach said when asked about his doubts about the decision. “Like you guys asked me before, ‘Why did we do this?’ I don’t know what the game was, but I wanted to get a good result. I know this didn’t happen. Neither of those two things happened. . but. Obviously, you can look back on anything.
“I did what I thought was best for the team at the time and I will continue to do so. So I have no regrets. A.J. Are you not playing this game because you are bullied? Of course it’s me. But no, I don’t doubt this decision.”
