With the Eagles-Washington game getting postponed to Tuesday night, both teams were bound to see changes on their Reserve/COVID-19 lists.
Washington had over 20 players on their list heading into the weekend, but thanks to the NFL’s stupidity, they’ll have several key players back with the game being played two days later than originally scheduled. Essentially their entire starting defensive line will be back in the fold Tuesday night. Jonathan Allen, Montez Sweat, and Matt Ioannidis are all expected to be taken off the list before kickoff.
Subsequently, the Eagles are losing a big piece along their offensive line, rookie guard Landon Dickerson. He was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list Sunday, so it’s all but confirmed that he won’t play against Washington.
Simply put, the Eagles are getting fucked by the NFL’s ineptitude to keep integrity in their own COVID-19 rules. The Eagles are now at a clear disadvantage in a positional matchup that could be the biggest key to victory.
Dickerson will be replaced by Sua Opeta at left guard, with Nate Herbig manning the right guard position. Opeta has only played a total of nine offensive snaps this season, but he did get extended action last season, playing 179 total snaps.
It goes without saying that he’s an obvious downgrade from Dickerson, but offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland has done a great job getting unproven lineman ready for the task at hand. He did it literally every single week last season, and he’s done it at times throughout this year as well.
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Regardless of how well Opeta places in Dickerson’s absence, the fact that Washington is getting reinforcements along their defensive front while the Eagles are losing pieces along their offensive front is infuriating. But, it is what it is at this point.
The Eagles are still more than capable of running the football on Washington. Jason Kelce is fully healthy, their backfield is fully healthy, and quarterback Jalen Hurts is all but 100% at the moment it would appear. The loss of Dickerson — especially when you consider the circumstances — hurts, but the team still has the pieces to pound the rock against Washington.
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