The Eagles made a few roster moves Tuesday. Philly is signing tight end Richard Rodgers and promoting receiver Deontay Burnett from the practice squad, the team announced. To make room on the active roster, they officially waived running back Jay Ajayi and placed cornerback Ronald Darby on injured reserve.
Rodgers was with the Eagles in camp, but was placed on injured reserve in August and released with an injury settlement shortly after. He first signed with Philadelphia in 2018 and spent last year with the team, catching only one pass in seven games. The best year of his career came back in 2015 with the Packers, when he caught 58 passes for 510 yards and eight touchdowns. His signing could indicate that the Eagles aren’t too optimistic about having starter Zach Ertz for their Week 17 game against the Giants. Ertz is dealing with a fractured rib that he suffered during their big win over the Cowboys.
Thanks to the victory against Dallas the Eagles are in the drivers seat, but they still need a win in their finale to clinch the NFC East. Darby went down with a hip injury, and there was some initial hope he’d be able to return for the playoffs. Obviously, that turned out not to be the case, and Rasul Douglas will slide into the starting lineup in his place. Darby is dealing with a grade 2 hip flexor strain that fortunately won’t require surgery and will only knock him out for about a month, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
We heard yesterday they were planning on waiving Ajayi, so that move was only a formality. Burnett is a 2018 UDFA from USC, who signed to their practice squad a couple of weeks ago after being cut from San Francisco’s taxi squad. Given the state of the Eagles’ depleted receiving corp, it’s highly possible he finds himself playing significant snaps.
farewell again Jay. hope some team gives you a shot next year.