The Eagles announced that cornerback JaCorey Shepherd has suffered a torn ACL, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. The diagnosis is fairly devastating for the Eagles, who just traded away slot cornerback Brandon Boykin. Shepherd was considered the frontrunner to take over for Boykin’s former patrol.
With Shepherd done for the year, Jaylen Watkins, E.J. Biggers, and Denzel Rice are left as the remaining options at slot cornerback. The Eagles also could turn to cornerbacks Byron Maxwell and Nolan Carroll or safeties Malcolm Jenkins and Walter Thurmond as options at nickel, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Still, those moves would be far from ideal for Philly. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Chip Kelly and the Eagles explore outside options between now and the start of the season.