Eagles news: Injury updates on DeVonta Smith, Britain Covey, others; Birds to get Tom Brady after Fox swap

On Saturday, veteran right tackle Lane Johnson shared a message during an offensive line meeting that proved to be prophetic during the Eagles’ nail-biter of a 15-12 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Johnson underscored the importance of each individual in the room, especially the backups, including Fred Johnson and Tyler Steen. Cam Jurgens said he singled out Johnson and Steen, relaying his trust and sense of belief in the swing tackle and backup right guard and encouraging them to stay ready for their opportunities.

Those chances to affect the game came less than 24 hours later. After right guard Mekhi Becton went down with a hand injury and Lane Johnson sustained a concussion in the first quarter, Fred Johnson and Steen entered in relief and helped the offense stay afloat against the No. 4-ranked Saints defense.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni again said he called the fourth-down play ahead of halftime that left the Eagles scoreless at the break. The Eagles lined up in a Tush Push formation and instead handed it off to Saquon Barkley, who was stuffed on the left side of the line of scrimmage, turning the ball over with 10 seconds left in the second quarter.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore typically calls plays, but Sirianni said Monday that play-calling is "collaborative."

Asked Sunday after the game if he had called other plays this season, Sirianni replied: "Come on, man. Yeah."

With DeVonta Smith in the concussion protocol, A.J. Brown recovering from a hamstring injury, and Britain Covey dealing with a shoulder injury that will likely keep him out of action for a few weeks, the Eagles are facing the possibility of heading to Tampa Bay next weekend with a thin group at wide receiver.

"He’s recovering, continuing to recover," Nick Sirianni said of Smith.

Covey told Eagles announcer Merrill Reese he has a broken bone in his shoulder and could be out six weeks. 

Nick Sirianni wouldn’t say directly whether the Eagles submitted to the league for review the two plays that led to the injuries to DeVonta Smith and Darius Slay.

“There are things that I have to keep private,” he said.

Sirianni did say later: “We’ll turn in anything that we feel like is a questionable call.”

There were a few remarkable things about Saquon Barkley’s long touchdown run that got the Eagles on the board and helped them turn the tide. Not the least of which being that it came one play after Smith was leveled on what Barkley thought was a late hit — Smith was concussed after his helmet was knocked off his head.

But the run itself featured some eye-popping numbers. Let’s start with the speed. Barkley reached a top speed of 21.66 mph during the run, according to Next Gen Stats, the fastest by a ballcarrier on a run play during this young NFL season and the second-fastest overall. Further, the play sits at the top of the list of Next Gen Stats’ “Remarkable Rushes” stat, which tracks how many yards over expected a given play goes for. On that run, the Saints put seven defenders in the box and Barkley was expected to go for just 3 yards.

Barkley has been everything the Eagles wanted and then some. With A.J. Brown missing time and Smith being knocked from Sunday’s game, the running back is the reason the Eagles are 2-1 and not 1-2. Barkley, who rushed for 147 yards on 17 carries Sunday, now leads the NFL with 351 rushing yards.

In his 48th season as the voice of the Eagles, Merrill Reese is still showing a knack for predicting plays. 

During the New Orleans Saints’ final drive in Sunday’s game, Reese casually mentioned it would be a nice time for Derek Carr to toss his first interception of the game. Seconds later, an under pressure Carr threw an off-target pass into the hands of Birds safety Reed Blankenship, sealing the victory for the Eagles. 

The fact Reese could see the players at all was a minor miracle. The Superdome is one of a handful of stadiums across the league that present challenges for the veteran radio announcer.

Next up for the Eagles is a trip down to Tampa Bay to face Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers Sunday at 1 p.m.

It’s the Eagles’ second straight road game and their third straight matchup against an NFC South team. It'll be a rematch of last season's wildcard game, where the Eagles were trounced by the Bucs and booted out of the playoffs.

The Bucs began the season with two straight wins against the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions, but were dominated by the Denver Broncos and rookie quarterback Bo Nix Sunday. Bucs starting right tackle Luke Goedeke missed his second straight game with a concussion, and the offensive line gave up seven sacks. 

Reed Blankenship, up: Blankenship got his second interception of the season, this time sealing the game by picking off Derek Carr after the Saints quarterback floated a pass in the middle of the field. Pressure from Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat contributed to the poorly thrown pass, but Blankenship made a diving catch to come up with the pass and ice the Eagles’ win.

Nick Sirianni’s fourth-down chart, down: The Eagles gained 460 total yards but managed just 15 points in part because of several of Sirianni’s fourth-down decisions backfiring. The most glaring mistake came at the end of the first half with the Eagles facing fourth-and-inches. Sirianni called a fake quarterback sneak that ended with Barkley breaking outside and getting tackled short of the sticks with 10 seconds left in the half. It was a dubious decision given the lack of time remaining with the Eagles standing to gain one, maybe two, shots toward the end zone with no timeouts left. While it didn’t result in a loss like last week, Sirianni has now gone consecutive weeks with costly fourth-down decisions following his gut rather than the analytics.

Milton Williams, up: WIlliams’ versatility came in handy for the Eagles’ defensive front. Playing out of a five-technique head up on the opposing tackle at times with Baun lined up outside of him, Williams tied Carter for a team-high two tackles for loss against New Orleans.

It appears Eagles wide receiver and punt returner Britain Covey won’t be playing anytime soon. 

Covey was knocked out of Sunday’s win against the New Orleans Saints Sunday with a shoulder injury, and told Eagles announcer Merrill Reese after the game it appears he has a broken bone in his shoulder.

The Eagles have made no official announcement, though Covey was seen by reporters wearing a sling following the game.

It took the entire defensive unit to shut down an offense that was high-powered, one that had pounded the Panthers and Cowboys on the ground in the first two weeks. The Eagles, conversely, had one of the worst run-defending groups through two games.

On paper, it was a lopsided matchup. But defensive coordinator Vic Fangio challenged his players and he helped them, too, by tweaking his scheme and personnel. And the combination of the two resulted in the Eagles holding Saints to just 3.1 yards per rush.

The dangerous Alvin Kamara had to earn almost every one of his 87 yards on 26 carries.

When the Eagles face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, a blast from the past will be calling the game in the booth.

Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, who is in his first year broadcasting NFL games for Fox, will now call Sunday's Eagles-Bucs matchup alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt. Brady had been slated to call Bears-Rams before the network's switcharoo.

Not only will it be Brady's first 1 p.m. kickoff of his brief broadcasting career, it will be his first game that doesn't feature the Cowboys. As for how he's done, reviews have been mixed, but he's certainly had his moments. Calling the Cowboys-Ravens game Sunday, he graded one Dak Prescott throw a C+ but Jake Ferguson's catch an A+. Another Prescott pass he labeled a "D throw."

The Eagles were already down star receiver A.J. Brown, who missed his second straight contest with a hamstring injury. But one by one Sunday, their injury list grew. They were forced to replace the right side of their offensive line when right guard Mekhi Becton left with a finger injury and All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson suffered a concussion.

An already thin wide receiving corps took a hit when Britain Covey was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. Covey told Eagles announcer Merrill Reese he has a broken bone in his shoulder and could be out six weeks.

Later in the game, DeVonta Smith, in a scary scene that had multiple players kneeling around him, left the game with a concussion. Smith’s injury came near the end of a play when his forward progress appeared to have been stopped. But Saints defensive tackle Khristian Boyd hit Smith up high, knocking his helmet off.