The Philadelphia Eagles are having enough difficulty adjusting to the ups and downs of a youthful defence as it is. Especially when their head coach can’t control his temper around the supporters, that’s true. Prior to the game against the Giants, they also have to cope with unsettling news regarding Jalen Carter’s and Darius Slay’s injuries.
NFL Eagles blogger Martin Frank posted on X that neither player made it to the practice field. It appears that Jalen Carter is not working out today. Not Darius Slay, either. Yesterday, Slay was not as active, and JC was not listed as injured. The Eagles are 3-2 going into their first NFC East matchup, while the Giants are 2-4.
The Eagles’ secondary will have a problem if Slay is unable to play. And that becomes amplified if rookie sensation Malik Nabers of the Giants is able to overcome an injury. Slay has served for twelve years. In the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, the Lions selected him. He was chosen for the Pro Bowl six times in seven seasons, starting in 2017. Slay, who signed with the Eagles in 2020, missed five games last season. It would be detrimental to lose his experience when facing a young but incredibly gifted player like Nabers. According to giants.com, Giants head coach Brian Daboll stated he has observed positive signs about Nabers’ injury.
“Malik has improved,” stated Daboll. “Good development, as he was able to practise today by coming out here. He’ll be wearing a red jersey, but he completed some of the required steps. It’s good that he’s improved. We’ll see, then. We will proceed with today. Though I’m not going to push anything, I am optimistic. With that kind of injury, you want to exercise caution. However, he is improving greatly, and having him here for practice today would be beneficial.
Not having Carter would impact the Eagles’ pass rush, which figures to give the Giants a hard time because of the absence of sturdy left tackle Andrew Thomas. He will miss the season because of an injury in last week’s game.
“Well, you can’t replace an Andrew Thomas,” Daboll said. “I feel terrible for him. I was able to text with him today. He had his surgery this morning, everything was successful. He’s a leader, he’s a captain, he’s great in the locker room, (and) he’s a very good football player. So, that’s what the development of players is all about. … Once this happens, you have discussions about how you want to approach it. We’ll do a few things here this week and then ultimately after Friday’s practice, we’ll make our decision on how we’re going to go with that.”
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