Eagles Get Troubling Update on WR A.J. Brown Ahead of Giants Game
It’s a loaded playoff race in the NFC. Six teams sit at 5-2 — the Rams, Eagles, Seahawks, Lions, 49ers, and Buccaneers — while the Packers sit a half-game up on that group in the standings at 4-1-1, thanks to a Week 4 tie against the Cowboys. That’s not even including the Bears at 4-2, just half a game behind the pack.
For the Philadelphia Eagles, they’ve done a lot of their work early, securing wins against the Rams, Buccaneers, and Chiefs while dropping games to the Broncos and Giants. That upset loss to the Giants was a surprise, but Philly is still sitting in prime playoff position. With a rematch at home against New York coming up on Sunday, the Eagles will have a chance to avenge one of their few losses on the year.
More than that, there are only a handful or truly tough tests left on the Eagles’ schedule. Philadelphia still has to play the Packers, Lions, Chargers, and Bills, as well as both games against the Commanders. But the defending Super Bowl champs have one of the deepest rosters in the league and a winning track record that should help them as they jockey for playoff positioning with less experienced teams.
Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown is Dealing with a Hamstring Injury
In some bad news for the Eagles, star WR A.J. Brown missed practice for the second straight day on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Missing two practices with a hamstring injury is a bad sign for his availability this week. Brown is coming off by far his best performance of the young season against the Vikings last week, posting a four-reception, 121-yard, two-touchdown line in a crucial victory for the Eagles.
It was by far the best Philadelphia’s passing offense has looked all season. Despite their strong record and complement of marquee victories, the Eagles have looked out of sorts on offense all year, scraping by without any real sense of consistency. They scored just 17 points in each of their back-to-back losses prior to beating Minnesota, and they rank just 26th in the league in total offense through Week 7.
This lack of consistent production has been a point of frustration for Brown in particular, who doesn’t seem to appreciate how he’s been used in the offense to this point in the season. Brown had just one catch in the Eagles’ season-opening win over the Cowboys, and he had just 27 receiving yards the following week against the Chiefs. Outside of a big Week 3 against the Rams, he’d only topped five catches or 50 receiving yards in a game once before Week 7.
Trade Rumors Continue to Swirl Around Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown
As if Brown hadn’t fueled his own trade rumors enough with his public comments, the timing of this injury has everyone speculating once again. The NFL trade deadline is fast approaching, and is now less than two weeks away on November 4.
Given his reduced role in the Eagles offense this season and Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman’s propensity for making big trades, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Brown gets dealt. The Eagles want to add a piece on defense, and trading Brown would certainly give them the assets to go make that move. But willingly giving up one of the best receivers in the league would be a shock, to say the least.
Lions Lose Veteran Linebacker Immediately After He Returns From Injury
The Detroit Lions waited three weeks to get veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham back after a serious injury, but now he will be gone for at least a month — and potentially the entire season.
The team placed Cunningham on injured reserve after suffering a hamstring injury in last week’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cunningham had just returned from a three-week absence for another hamstring injury, and the latest development will put his season in doubt.
Lions Lose Key Depth
Cunningham had been knocked out of last weekend’s 24-9 win over the conference-leading Buccaneers, ruled out to return with a hamstring injury. As Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted, the injury will take a key special teams and situational defender from the roster.
“There is no indication if Cunningham, who plays primarily on special teams but has also worked in short-yardage and red zone packages throughout the season, will be able to return in 2025,” Risdon wrote. “The Lions facility is closed to and staff are off until next week. For the year, the 30-year-old has seven tackles and one TFL.”
Cunningham came to the Lions as a free agent this offseason, adding a veteran presence to the linebacking corps. The 30-year-old has appeared in 106 games with 86 starts in his career, making 716 total tackles.
He had a light role in Detroit this season, appearing in four games with seven total tackles.
Backups Come Through in the Secondary
The Lions have already taken a number of hits to their defense, especially in the secondary where the team has already lost several cornerbacks to injury and had safety Brian Branch serve a one-game suspension for sparking a skirmish at the end of the team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The team utilized what head coach Dan Campbell called its “Who?” secondary against the Buccaneers, holding the dangerous offense to just nine points.
“I knew we were going to challenge them and do more than we did last week,” Campbell said, via The Associated Press. “But that’s a good quarterback over there, and they’ve been playing good football. I had confidence, but nine points?”
The Lions relied heavily on reserves Rock Ya-Sin, Nick Whiteside, Arthur Maulet, Erick Hallett, and Thomas Harper against the Buccaneers. NFL.com reporter Kevin Patra noted that the collection of backups played “with their hair on fire” against the Buccaneers, taking an aggressive approach that left quarterback Baker Mayfield befuddled.
Campbell said he called on the group to take on an aggressive approach and they delivered, not getting overcome by the challenge of facing one of the NFL’s top teams in primetime.
“That’s what’s expected here,” Campbell said. “I’ve said it before, you get in there, you don’t have to be perfect, you just challenge and you compete, and we will help you and the guys around you will help you.
“I love the fact the game didn’t seem too big for those guys. That was Harper’s and Hallett’s first start. I thought it wasn’t too big for them. They got in there and competed and that’s a great sign.”
