Dallas Goedert Returns, so Does Chemistry with Gardner Minshew - Just in Case
PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles wasted little time this week making it official and ending Dallas Goedert’s five-game run on injured reserve by adding the tight end back to the 53-man roster on Tuesday.
Maybe there’s a clue in there somewhere, a little gift to unwrap ahead of Christmas Eve.
Maybe that clue is Gardner Minshew is playing Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys (4:25 p.m./FOX) because Goedert and the backup quarterback have some chemistry between them.
In Minshew’s first start as an Eagle last December, against the New York Jets, Goedert caught six passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Goedert believes the genesis of their connection was the day he was getting an IV in the Eagles’ treatment room, hanging with fellow tight end Richard Rodgers, when Minshew walked in after being acquired in a trade just before the 2021 season.
Rodgers began telling Minshew about how he and Goedert used to talk about him when he was in Jacksonville and how awesome they thought he was.
“I gotta give some props to RichRod because I think he helped out the targets and the ball coming my way,” said Goedert on Tuesday prior to the team’s walk-through. “I’m going to be nice to him, and just try to be open to him as much as I can.”
Goedert insists it’s a true story.
“I remember we used to sit in the cafeteria and watch Minshew Mania throwing dimes in the back corner of the end zone, winning games, and having fun doing it,” he said, “so when he came here, I said he had that legend. It was just awesome to meet him, and his personality hasn’t let anybody down. He’s just an awesome guy.”
Goedert is returning in time to help the 13-1 Eagles try to wrap up the NFC East and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. All they have to do is beat the 10-4 Cowboys in Dallas.
He gives the Cowboys' defense one more weapon to think about, no matter if the quarterback is Minshew or Jalen Hurts.
“Maybe the Cowboys will be playing a little bit soft inside, worrying about DeVonta (Smith) and A.J. (Brown), and hopefully they forget about me, so (whoever is at QB) can just dump it to me over the middle," said Goedert. "That’ll be pretty nice.”
Goedert was disappointed he didn’t get to play against the Bears last Sunday. He was eligible to come off IR, but the Eagles decided to exercise more precaution and let him sit one more week.
“Watching that game was harder than the first four, but it all works out,” he said. “I’ll be feeling good for Saturday.
“For me, I was lucky my body handled (the shoulder injury) really well. It healed up really good. It was interesting because about a week after the (Washington) game (when the injury happened), I haven’t had any pain or discomfort since then. Just a matter of fact just making sure everything was wrong had healed back up.”
Everything is A-OK now.
It may even be better than A-OK if Minshew is the quarterback.
“Last week, I got to do routes-on-air with him, I got to do scout team with him a little bit,” said the tight end. “So, I got that early connection with him, and then I’ll probably remind him a couple of times about what happened last year. Hopefully, he feels the same, and that I can get the rock a little bit.”
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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
