Noah Togiai Elevated for Game with Dallas Goedert on COVID List
PHILADELPHIA – Tight end Noah Togiai has been elevated from the practice squad as a COVID replacement Dallas Goedert in Thursday night’s home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Also up for the game is offensive lineman Le’Raven Clark, who replaces offensive lineman Sua Opeta, who is also out with COVID.
Goedert was placed on the Reserve/COVID list earlier in the week. He has 15 catches for 216 yards and two touchdowns. He had one of the bigger plays in last week’s in over the Carolina Panthers with a 20-yard reception on the second play after T.J. Edwards blocked a punt with 3:53 to set up the Eagles’ offense at the Carolina 27-yard line.
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Togiai was signed earlier in the week after he had been released by the Indianapolis Colts with an injury settlement at the end of training camp. He played in four games as a rookie last year with the Colts but was not targeted in the passing game.
He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State by the Eagles following the 2020 draft but was released heading into the season and claimed by Indianapolis.
With the Colts, Togiai no doubt gained some familiarity with the offense run by Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni when Sirianni was the offensive coordinator in Indy.
With Goedert out, Zach Ertz figures to have more or a prominent role.
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He is 15 catches away from breaking the franchise record for most catches in a career currently held by Hall of Fame wide receiver Harold Carmichael.
Ertz’s 575 career catches are the 12th-most by a tight in NFL history.
The Eagles will also be playing their third straight game without right tackle Lane Johnson, who continues to struggle with a personal matter.
Since the Eagles made him the highest-paid right tackle in the league, giving him a four-year contract on Nov. 30, 2019, Johnson, 31, has played in just 12 of 27 games.
Meanwhile, center Jason Kelce will make his 111th straight start on Thursday night.
NOTES: The two top teams in yards after catch will meet on Thursday, with Tampa leading the league in that department with 892 yards and the Eagles in second with 808 yards…
The Eagles’ third-ranked passing defense will be put to the test by a Bucs team that ranks first in passing offense. Philadelphia allows 194.8 passing yards per game, not a bad number considering they played Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes in back-to-back weeks. Ahead of the Eagles in pass defense are Carolina (161.6) and Buffalo (173.4)…
The Eagles’ lone two wins this season have come against the NFC South. After Thursday’s game, the last team they will play in the division are the New Orleans Saints, who visit Lincoln Financial Field on Nov. 21.
MORE: Nick Sirianni Extends Short Week, T.J. Edwards Earns NFC ...
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
