Josh Sweat Taken to Hospital, Eagles set Sack Record Despite Struggles vs. Saints

Backup Gardner Minshew was sacked five times and didn't lead the offense to its initial first down until 12 seconds were left in a first half that saw Philly trailing 13-0
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PHILADELPHIA - Josh Sweat was carted off the field early in the first quarter and transported to a local hospital for precautionary reasons.

The Eagles' defensive end has movement in all his extremities.

It was a frightening scene when Sweat went down with 9:19 to play in the first quarter in the middle of a New Orleans Saints touchdown drive to open the game.

Sweat lay motionless on his stomach for a few minutes before pounding his hands on the turf inside Lincoln Financial Field. As he was being taken off on the cart, he raised his right hand.

That is certainly good news.

The Eagles' offense, however, was bad news. Very bad news.

With backup Gardner Minshew making his second straight start, the team went without a first down until 12 seconds were left in the first half as the Saints opened a 13-0 lead at intermission.

Minshew was sacked five times and he completed just six of 10 throws for 70 yards. The Eagles ran just twice, with Miles Sanders getting both carries for four yards.

Meanwhile, the Saints' offense lost the toss but got the ball to start when the Eagles deferred.

They embarked on a 75-yard drive that consumed 8 minutes, and 58 seconds. Along the way, New Orleans converted three third downs and a fourth. Taysom Hill plunged 1-yard for a TD and a 7-0 lead that grew to 13-0 with a pair of Will Lutz field goals.

The Eagles had the ball for just 7:10 to New Orleans' 22:50.

it didn't seem to matter that the Eagles were playing at home for the first time in four weeks, except it meant more boos from the home crowd.

Losing Sweat does matter, though, and he is the latest in a series of key injuries for the Eagles.

They are already without quarterback Jalen Hurts, right tackle Lane Johnson, and slot corner Avonte Maddox. Safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has missed the last five games with a lacerated kidney.

Sweat, who has a career-high 11 sacks, was instrumental in helping the Eagles set a new team record in sacks, something the defense did after he left the game.

The Eagles collected three sacks against Andy Dalton, with Javon Hargrave, Brandon Graham, and Haason Reddick notching them.

Reddick now has 14, Hargrave 11, and Graham 10, which gives him double digits for the first time in his 13-year career.

Josiah Scott also thwarted one potential Saints scoring drive late in the first half with his second interception of the season.

Earlier in the week, Graham talked about both the team sack record and the NFL record of potentially getting four players in double digits for the first time.

Of the team record, Graham said: “Man, that would mean a lot because we’ll go down in history for that, but there’s no pressure. I’m just out here having fun. I’m trying to enjoy today because, boy, next thing you know it’ll be season over.”

Of the NFL record, Graham said: “That would mean a lot too because we heard about that record for so long in this organization, so to be able to be two sacks away, don’t think about it, ya’ll just be us, just be us.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.


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Ed Kracz
ED KRACZ

Ed Kracz has been covering the Eagles full-time for over a decade and has written about Philadelphia sports since 1996. He wrote about the Phillies in the 2008 and 2009 World Series, the Flyers in their 2010 Stanely Cup playoff run to the finals, and was in Minnesota when the Eagles secured their first-ever Super Bowl win in 2017. Ed has received multiple writing awards as a sports journalist, including several top-five finishes in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards.