Philadelphia Eagles TE Depth a Concern with Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra Injuries
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Eagles are resting, at least they are supposed to be as they enter their bye week.
Some are getting treatment, such as Jalen Hurts for his ailing knee, Nakobe Dean for his foot, and other players, too. There are plenty of them that could use both – rest and treatment.
“We’re going to give all the guys rest and he’ll be one of the guys that benefits from our rest,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “It’s an important week for us to self-scout, and an important week for our players to take some time away from the game.
“We never can fully take time, but we’ll take some time away from it. We’ll take some time away from it as coaches, but I know our guys and I know they’ll be intertwined, whether it’s - I know I’ll get texts from our guys on Saturday during the college football games; I know I’ll get texts from them on Sunday.”
The Eagles aren’t expected to have player and coach availability again until next Thursday, four days before they travel to Kansas City for a Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs on Monday Night Football, Nov. 20.
Perhaps the most underrated rest and treatment will be for Grant Calcaterra in between now and then.
With Dallas Goedert’s forearm injury expected to land him on injured reserve, the tight end position could suddenly be short on depth.
Calcaterra suffered a concussion early in the Eagles’ Week 8 win over the Washington Commanders, forcing him to miss the Week 9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. If Calcaterra cannot return, the Eagles will be down to two tight ends on the active roster – Jack Stoll and Albert Okwuegbunam.
Stoll has two catches for 10 yards this season. Okwuegbunam was acquired from the Denver Broncos at the end of training camp and doesn't have a catch this year, though in three seasons with the Denver Broncos, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2020, he had 54 receptions for 546 yards, and for touchdowns.
Jack Stoll and Dallas Goedert.
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E.J. Jenkins was signed to the practice squad last week. He is listed as a tight end but played receiver at three colleges – St. Francis (Pa.), South Carolina, and Georgia Tech.
The NFL trade deadline has passed, so the Eagles are a bit hamstrung as to what other moves they could make to bolster the position while they weather the absence of Goedert.
When Goedert missed five games with a shoulder injury last year, Stoll and Calcaterra capably filled in ably and Philly went 5-0 without their star tight end.
“Obviously you're limited as far as any trades or anything like that,” said Sirianni. “We are hopeful Dallas will make a good, clean recovery, and be back soon when he's ready to be back.”
Sirianni said there are other ways to supplement the loss of Goedert that go beyond Stoll, Calcaterra (maybe), and Okwuegbunam.
“It just doesn't fall on those three guys,” he said. “You can supplement it sometimes with different personnel groupings as well. We feel like we have some good options. We are obviously not into game planning yet.
“We did a big review of our game (Monday) and then (Tuesday) will be self-scout stuff. We'll work into game plan later in the week where we'll think more about that. But we know we have options not only with the guys in the room but also guys that are not in the room out of different personnel groupings."
It certainly would help to have Calcaterra in the mix for planning, though the Eagles won’t rush him, especially given his history.
The tight end from SMU via Oklahoma, a sixth-round pick in 2022, retired from the sport briefly after a slew of concussions and concern over his long-term health.
Calcaterra was so far down the retirement road after making the decision in 2019, that he had already accepted a job as an EMT with an ambulance company. The night before his first day, however, he had a change of heart, opting to return to football.
"I never wanted to have it be five years down the road and always wonder, ‘What if?’" said Calcaterra at the time.
Who knows what he may be thinking now?
