Eagles Down Three Defensive Starters; Who Steps In vs. Vikings?

The Philadelphia Eagles won't have Reed Blankenship, Nakobe Dean, or James Bradberry in a Week 2 matchup vs. the Minnesota Vikings, and Kenny Gainwell is out as well

PHILADELPHIA – Reed Blankenship and Nakobe Dean were two defenders the Philadelphia Eagles were counting on to replace a pair of stalwarts a season ago, T.J. Edwards and Marcus Epps.

Neither could make it out of Week 1.

Dean is out for at least a month with a foot injury and is on Injured Reserve. Blankenship will miss Thursday night’s home opener against the Minnesota Vikings with injured ribs. The quick turnaround between games has been marred by plenty of talk about ribs, and not the barbecued variety.

The Eagles will also be without running back Kenny Gainwell and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is questionable because both have, you guessed it, rib injuries. Philly will also be without cornerback James Bradberry, who suffered a concussion in the opener.

That’s three starters out already and it’s just Week 2. The Eagles navigated 17 games last season relatively healthy. Perhaps this is a byproduct of grinding into the February and playing in the Super Bowl or maybe not properly preparing the body with some form of limited contact in preseason games.

So, the spotlight now shifts to the reserves.

Will they be ready and who are they exactly?

Reed Blankenship eyes a tackle in the 2023 season opener / USA Today

• Taking over for Bradberry will probably be second-year undrafted free agent Josh Jobe, who played a grand total of 12 defensive snaps as a rookie. He nearly equaled that in the opener, logging eight snaps, and it was encouraging to see him make a play that helped secure the win when he shoved Kayshon Boutte out of bounds before he could get both feet in bounds.

“We've got a lot of confidence in Josh,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “That's why he's made our roster the last two years. I think he's a really physical corner who is long, strong, is able to just -- when he gets his hands on you, he's able to control you.

“We've got a lot of faith in Josh, and regardless of who's in there, we know we can play the schemes that we want to play because Josh is our third corner, and your third corner has to play. There are times when he's going to have to play some.”

• As for safety, the Eagles have options, including rookie Sydney Brown, who did not log any defensive snaps against the Patriots, though played plenty on special teams. The Eagles could roll Terrell Edmunds out there, as well. Edmunds played just 10 snaps in New England.

One thing seems certain, Justin Evans will be one of the starters as he was last Sunday.

“He kind of earned it,” said defensive coordinator Sean Desai. “He set himself apart a little bit with his physicalness at the point of attack sometimes. That we saw obviously in practice and in some games. His length and his ability to cover guys was good.

“He did a good job in the game. He took a lot of command to his side of the coverage, the things that we require those safeties to do. He did a good job communicating out there and stepping into that role.”

• At linebacker, the Eagles have a dilemma. Christian Elliss will likely start for Dean and Zach Cunningham will line up off the ball. Adding Nick Morrow from the practice squad gives the team another option, but undervaluing the position the way the Eagles have done could come back to bite them this time.

• The running back room is deep, but far from elite. The Eagles will likely dress Rashaad Penny a week after having him inactive. There could be bigger roles D’Andre Swift and/or Boston Scott, both of whom had one carry and one catch last week in a game plan that was curious, to say the least.

The Eagles paid too much for Swift to not play him.

“We don't ever want to come out with him only having those many touches,” said Sirianni the day before Thursday’s game. “That's just kind of how the flow went in the game. We had things called for him, but sometimes the ball doesn't go for him in a certain way. That's just the way the defense takes it away.

“Now, you can always get it to him by just handing it off to him, but I see him being able to play any role that he's in because of the type of back and the skill set that he has.”

PREDICTION: EAGLES 31, VIKINGS 21