Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert was on his way to having a big game Sunday, just as anticipated when he took a shot to the head.
Goedert exited with a head injury and on Monday found himself in the concussion protocol.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reviewed the hit. Thoroughly, judging by his explanation of it Monday. Dirty play? Does Justin Simmons deserve a fine? Is Nick going to tell on him to league officials?
Sirianni very maturely is not second-guessing referee Shawn Hochuli or the crew that didn’t call a penalty on the play.
“You know, those hits happen a lot of times,” Sirianni said. “I’m not here to ever question the integrity of another player or anything like that. Those happen. You’re going in there to get a hit and Dallas goes to the ground and the other guy is coming in and where his head was normally was probably perfectly fine. But as Dallas goes to the ground it becomes an illegal hit or legal or whatever. So, I’m never going to question the integrity of another player. I have a lot of respect for Justin Simmons. He’s a really, really good football player. A phenomenal tackler. I think he’s a first-class player and person.”
Goedert played just 13 snaps, catching two passes
Jack Stoll played well in a blocking role, one that saw him playing a season-high 42 snaps. Tyree Jackson played a career-high 27 snaps.
Promising as that duo is, they didn’t turn down the type of mega-bucks contract extension that Goedert did when the Eagles tried to lock him up early. The Eagle offense sputtered a bit when Goedert exited Sunday.
If Goedert isn’t cleared, look for the Eagles to activate veteran tight end Richard Rodgers this weekend.
Other Eagles hurt Sunday were defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (elbow) and JJ Arcega-Whiteside (ankle).
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Hard to believe it but the Eagles are 0-4 at Lincoln Financial Field yet are 1.5-point favorites over the New Orleans Saints.
The Saints (5-5) have lost consecutive games to the Atlanta Falcons, by a 27-25 margin and the Tennessee Titans, who secured a 23-21 decision.
The Eagles (4-6) have won two of their last three games.
It’s going to be an interesting fourth quarter in that the Saints lead the league with 95 fourth-quarter points, and the Eagles are next with 86.
The Saints are rolling with quarterback Trevor Siemian, the replacement for the injured Jameis Winston.
Last year Hurts beat Taysom Hill, the backup Saints quarterback, 24-21, at the Linc.
The Saints on Sunday were without their best player, running back Alvin Kamara, who sat out the Titans game with knee soreness. They already were without their best receiver, Michael Thomas, out for the duration with a knee injury.
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One of the funnier moments at a Sirianni presser occurred Monday when he doubted there was a shift toward using the run game.
The Eagles are averaging 209 rushing yards over the last three games. They’ve also tallied six rushing TDs compared to three passing scores.
The Eagles average 144.3 yards on the season, third in the league and first in the NFC. They’re second in the NFL and first in the conference with 45 rushes of 10 or more yards, a tribute largely to Hurts’ mobility.
“I don’t know if there was a shift,” Sirianni said. “It’s more so just the sense that we got it going early in those games. Maybe you could say that shift happened in Las Vegas but that has always been our emphasis, that we want to be able to run the ball.”
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Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is being shamed in Denver for not attempting to tackle Darius Slay on an 83-yard return of a fumble that proved to be a dramatic swing in the game.
The Eagles led, 20-13, when Melvin Gordon was stripped by Davion Taylor at the 20-yard line of Philly. Slay scooped the ball and ran right past Bridgewater and around the rest of the Broncos to make it 27-13.
After the game Bridgewater was asked by Denver Post columnist Mark Kinszla if he’d made a “business decision” not to try to tackle Slay.
“No,” Bridgewater said. “I just tried to force the ball back (to the middle of the field). When you sit in a team meeting and watch Coach put up plays throughout the league and two-minute situations and different things, our defense has guys running toward the sideline. We always say, ‘The sideline is your friend.’ I tried to force the ball back. That’s all I tried to do right there.”
Bridgewater would have been hammered in Philly for not giving effort on that play, much like Zach Ertz was for not blocking Vontaze Burfict of the Bengals a few years ago, resulting in a hit on Carson Wentz. The non-block was widely considered a business decision; i.e. avoiding a possible injury.
