The Eagles will reportedly be signing a new punter following their win over the Giants Sunday.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the Eagles are intending to sign veteran punter Brett Kern.
Update: the #Eagles indeed plan to sign veteran punter Brett Kern, who was in Philadelphia today in the aftermath of Arryn Siposs’ injury. https://t.co/UvkyOLPdEP— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 12, 2022
Update: the #Eagles indeed plan to sign veteran punter Brett Kern, who was in Philadelphia today in the aftermath of Arryn Siposs’ injury. https://t.co/UvkyOLPdEP
At his press conference Monday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters that the injury suffered by current punter Arryn Siposs was worse than they expected and will take a longer time to heal.
It would seem most likely that the Eagles place Siposs on injured reserve to clear up a spot, though it is conceivable that they could look to sign Kern to the practice squad and elevate him if the Birds don’t expect to need him in the playoffs (which it would seem likely they will at this point).
Siposs was, of course, injured on that blocked punt where he made a heads-up play to pick up the ball and nearly run for a first down after doing so. Britain Covey filled in as the holder and Jake Elliott as the punter for the remainder of the game.
HOOOOOLLLLLY Arryn Siposs' punt blocked & scooped and run pic.twitter.com/P8PsY6MTj8— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) December 11, 2022
HOOOOOLLLLLY Arryn Siposs' punt blocked & scooped and run pic.twitter.com/P8PsY6MTj8
While the Giants would still score on the ensuing possession, Siposs’ effort on the play did not go unnoticed by the Philly fans.Unfortunately, that won’t necessarily comfort Siposs as he rides the bench due to his injuries.Siposs, in his second NFL season, had been averaging 45.6 yards per punt this season, locking opponents inside their own 20 yard-line on 36.4% of his punts.The veteran and former Pro Bowler Kern had spent the last 12.5 seasons with the Titans and the prevous one and a half seasons prior to that with the Broncos. Over the course of his career, he averaged 45.9 yards per punt and pinned teams just under 40% of the time (39.7%).In 2021, he averaged 44.8 yards per punt and only pinned opponents just 38.3% of the time, his lowest numbers in those categories since 2016 and 2017, respectively.Kern, a three-time Pro Bowler (2017, 2018, 2019) and former first-team All Pro selection (2019), will add another veteran presence to a locker room that has an incredible chemistry leading into week 15.The Eagles will take on the Chicago Bears this Sunday, potentially able to secure the one seed and the bye in the NFC playoffs.
