Eagles Clear COVID List, Place Three on IR

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By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

The Eagles cleared their COVID list on Monday afternoon, pulling all 11 players remaining on the list off of the list.

Those players included Fletcher Cox, Marcus Epps, Dallas Goedert, Nate Herbig, Jordan Howard, Boston Scott, Avonte Maddox, Alex Singelton, Rodney McLeod, Genard Avery and Jack Stoll.

The Eagles also shifted Tyree Jackson, JJ Arcega-Whiteside and Brett Toth to injured reserve, which leaves a few spaces on the roster open.

MRIs yesterday revealed Jackson tore his ACL so his placement on the IR was an expected move. It is expected that the veteran Richard Rodgers will take on the third tight-end role for the Eagles in the playoffs.

JJ Arcega-Whiteside has been dealing with injuries all season, but the very poor performance he had in that game against the Cowboys Sunday, including a tip to an interception and a dropped touchdown pass, do bring into question whether the injury itself was the lone reason for the move or if the Eagles really just wanted the roster spot.

JJAW’s roster spot was already given to Jason Huntley, who performed very well on Saturday. He not only played well in the ground game (13 carries for 51 yards), but was the most effective return man the Eagles have seen since Jalen Reagor arrived, averaging 28 yards per return.

Huntley should figure to be the team’s new kick returner going forward and will also serve as an additional running back to the group that features an already injured Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard.

In fact, the team was so sure of Huntley, that they released veteran RB Kerryon Johnson from their practice squad, leaving them with all five of their backs on the 53-man roster and none on the practice squad.

The third player placed on IR was Brett Toth, who looked impressive playing center on Saturday night. The former Army tackle now has experience at each position on the offensive line and has played well at each, making him a valuable depth piece and another successful Jeff Stoutland disciple.

He has really come around and will, unfortunately, miss the postseason due to the injury he suffered on Saturday night.

What they do with that spot will be interesting as the team does already have five backup offensive linemen on the 53-man roster. They could promote one of Kayode Awosika, Luke Juriga or Casey Tucker to keep the 53-man roster at 11 OL, or they could look to bring someone else up or maybe look for a free agent to fill the spot (Vinny Curry was just released by the Jets and is 5.5 months into a 3-6 month injury).

The Eagles also released backup kicker Matt McCrane from the practice squad, though they will certainly keep tabs on him throughout the week, potentially bringing him back again.

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