Philadelphia Eagles DT Jordan Davis Questionable vs. Washington Commanders: Run Defense Taking Hit?

Philadelphia Eagles emerging star Jordan Davis is the foundational piece of the team's No. 1 run defense.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles’ top-ranked run defense could take a major hit on Sunday in Washington but the peril has little to do with the Commanders’ running backs.

The issue is a hamstring injury suffered by 336-pound nose tackle Jordan Davis at practice on Thursday.

One of the most improved players in the NFL this season, Davis watched practice on Friday and was officially designated as questionable for the game.

It looks like no Jordan Davis today. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/6fYgSqFtez

— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) October 27, 2023

Davis was spotted in the locker room by SI.com’s Eagles Today after the injury on Thursday and the Georgia product was moving gingerly before engaging in a long discussion with Eagles’ player development assistant and scout Patrick McDowell.

Before moving to the football operations department with the Eagles in 2018, McDowell previously worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for four seasons (2018-21) and was the coordinator of sports performance at Wake Forest for two years before being hired in Philadelphia.

There are both good and bad tea leaves to read with that situation.

McDowell’s presence was likely as a sounding board to advise how to handle the injury but the fact that Davis wasn’t kept by the training staff is positive when it comes to judging how serious the issue was, something that was further validated by his presence on the field Friday watching his teammates.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni addressed the injury prior to practice on Friday.

“We practice hard out there. That’s part of the way our guys get better each week is the intensity of practice,” Sirianni said. “You're going to have some bumps and bruises at practice at times and you'll see new guys – hopefully that doesn't happen, but guys will pop up on the injury report because of something that happened in practice. That's just the way this game is. When you practice the way our guys do out there, that happens.

“We'll see how (Davis) feels today. Obviously, it's a constant evaluation. It happened yesterday as you saw that it popped up on the practice report yesterday. We got to see him out there today, the rehab today, then we got tomorrow. We got time to figure it out. We'll see what happens.”

True to Sirianni's words the Eagles are pushing the decision down the road and could either downgrade Davis to out by Saturday or take the decision up to game time on Sunday.

Sirianni is a big believer in competitive advantage so the latter is the more likely path that the Eagles will take.

Davis has been the foundation of the NFL’s No. 1 run defense to date, the unit’s nose or shade technique in 50 fronts.

Last Sunday, Miami arrived at Lincoln Financial Field with the top-ranked ground game with 181.8 yards per game at 6.3 per clip and the Eagles held the Dolphins to 45 rushing yards on just 12 carries in their 31-17 win.

Take away back-to-back 21- and 15-yard runs midway through the third quarter and the Dolphins gained just nine yards on their other 10 carries, highlighting the Eagles’ dominance.

Last season, the Eagles finished No. 17 in run defense (121.6 yards per game) and 24th in opponent rush average (4.6). Through seven games this season, Philadelphia is first in the league in rushing yards allowed (62.9 per game), a number that would be the best in franchise history if it continues.

Recently, Eagles’ All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson and Miami superstar Tyreek Hill have explained just how difficult Davis is to move in the run game.

“Well, uh, I don't know if you've seen how big Jordan Davis is, but he takes up about (expletive) three gaps," Johnson said when asked why the Eagles are so good at stuffing the run.

After seeing Davis in person, Hill had a similar take:

“[Davis] take four people to block, bro,” Hill said on his podcast. “He dead weight so you ain’t moving him unless you get a pure double team on him. He the truth.”

Washington has the 26th-ranked rushing offense and its top rusher, Brian Robinson, is No. 23 in the NFL with 325 yards on 85 carries, just 3.8 yards per run. Backup Antonio Gibson has also struggled and sixth-round rookie Chris Rodriguez could be in line for more work, according to a Washington source.

If Davis is unable to go Third-year pro Marlon Tuipulotu would likely be in line for more work in 50 fronts but others like veterans Fletcher Cox and Kentavius Street would also likely have to help with techniques that are natural to them unless defensive coordinator Sean Desai simply scraps many of the five-man fronts and uses more 40 looks.

The last piece to the puzzle is what looms after the Commanders for Philadelphia. The 4-2 Dallas Cowboys are set to visit the Eagles in Week 9 so it's not inconceivable that the Eagles could play it cautious with Davis to make sure he's available for the Cowboys.