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Eagles Suddenly Vulnerable with Bad News on Lane Johnson, Avonte Maddox
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Suddenly, the Eagles appear vulnerable.
Already without MVP candidate Jalen Hurts, the team will now be without right tackle Lane Johnson and slot cornerback Avonte Maddox for the foreseeable future.
Both players have likely played their final snap of the regular season. The hope is they can return for the playoffs.
A report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter indicated that tests on the Eagles' right tackle revealed a torn tendon in the abdominal area in Saturday’s 40-34 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Another report, this one from NFL Media, said that Maddox suffered a significant toe injury. The report said that he had an MRI Monday morning to confirm the news that he's out indefinitely.
The Eagles could get safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson back from injured reserve this week. He suffered a lacerated kidney against the Green Bay Packers at the end of November.
His 21-day return to practice window could open this week as the Eagles prepare to host Gardner-Johnson's former team, the New Orleans Saints, on New Year's Day.
Johnson's loss is a big blow to what is arguably the best offensive line in the NFL, and for Johnson who hadn’t given up a sack in an NFL-record 928 pass attempts.
He was part of an effort that held the Cowboys without a sack on Saturday. Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence couldn’t get to backup quarterback Garner Minshew.
Maddox has battled injury all season. He missed two games before landing on IR for four games. He only recently returned last week.
Josiah Scott filled in for him, but it was Scott, along with cornerback Darius Slay, who was beaten for a 52-yard completion against the Cowboys that was a big impetus in changing the outcome of the game.
Exactly when the Eagles' playoff run will begin is still very much up in the air.
What seemed like a sure thing, with them needing to win only one game over their final three, doesn't seem like as good of a bet as it was heading to Dallas on Christmas Eve.
They need to win one of their two final games - or the Cowboys and Vikings have to lose at least once over the same span - in order to earn the top seed and claim the all-important bye.
If they do, the Eagles' playoff run wouldn't begin until the weekend of Jan. 21, giving their injured players an extra week to heal.
Head coach Nick Sirianni was asked after the loss in Dallas about his message to the team.
"We win together, we celebrate together, and we pick each other up together," he said. "Everything is together - together, together, together, It wasn’t one phase that let another phase down. It was offense, defense, coaching, everything.
"We’re in this together. The teams that stick together through the ups and downs of the season are teams that continue to grow together. We’ll figure it out."
Now, he has more to figure out with injuries beginning to mount and one more game to win.
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.
