Not much has gone wrong for the Eagles this year as they’ve cruised their way to an undefeated 7-0 start to the season. Injuries affect every team, though, and one showed up in Philadelphia today as rookie first-round defensive tackle Jordan Davis left today’s game with a high ankle sprain, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
The 13th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft has been a rotational contributor this year for the NFC East leaders. Despite becoming a consistent starter since Week 3 of the season, Davis has yet to play more than half of the team’s defensive snaps in a single game. Still, he’s been impressive in his limited time grading out as the league’s 9th best defensive tackle, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), thanks to a really good run defense grade and a better than average pass rush grade.
Through seven games this year, Davis has recorded 12 total tackles, 1.0 tackle for loss, and 1 pass defensed. Obviously, as a defensive tackle, Davis isn’t lighting up the stat sheet, but he’s been an impactful rookie, making his presence felt in other ways.
If the Eagles are forced to miss Davis for an extended period, they’ll likely roll forward with a top-two of Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave. Back up linemen Milton Williams and Marlon Tuipulotu have been rotating in like Davis, but, with Davis out, they will likely be asked to step up for a few more snaps each game.
High ankle sprains typically have a recovery period of four to six weeks. The severity of Davis’s injury has yet to be determined, but he is expected to undergo an MRI tomorrow morning.
Even Howie is can’t pull off a trade to replace such a critical cog in the wheel before Tuesday…We got next year.
Ouch.