Dallas Goedert Won't Play in Chicago, Eagles Promote 2 from Practice Squad

Christian Elliss was elevated from the practice squad - the third and final time he is allowed to do that - as well as punter Brett Kern, but the star TE remains on IR

Maybe if the Eagles weren’t 4-0 without Dallas Goedert, they may have been more inclined to bring him back after missing his mandatory four games on injured reserve.

The emergence of backups Jack Stoll and Grant Calcaterra gave the Eagles the luxury of keeping their star tight end on the sideline, perhaps unwrapping him in Dallas on Christmas Eve.

The Eagles had until Saturday at 4 p.m. to activate Goedert, who suffered a fracture in his shoulder in the team’s lone loss of the season back on Nov. 14.

They will look to push their record to 13-1 against the Chicago Bears on Sunday (1 p.m./FOX) at Soldier Field.

“Even though the Bears only got three wins, they’ve lost a lot of close games,” said Goedert earlier in the week. “They’re not a bad team, that’s for sure. We’ve got to be ready to go when we get there.

"Obviously, I definitely want to play in Dallas. But you know, every game is important. When you sit on the sidelines, you want to get back out there as soon as possible.”

While Goedert won’t be available, the Eagles elevated punter Brett Kern and linebacker/special team contributor Christian Elliss.

Kern will fill in for injured Arryn Siposs. This is his first elevation, and the Eagles may need to find a roster spot for him eventually.

This is the third and final elevation for Elliss, and with the way he has played on special teams, the Eagles would certainly like to find a spot for him, too. He has four special team tackles in his two games, which is just three behind team leaders Kyron Johnson and Zech McPhearson.

The Eagles chose not to elevate safety Anthony Harris, who returned this week after signing with the practice squad and could have been one of the replacements for Reed Blankenship, who was ruled out with a knee injury.

K'Von Wallace will likely start on the back end with Marcus Epps.

As for Goedert, he seemed optimistic that he would against the Bears, saying that things “were trending in the right direction” after the Eagles opened his 21-day practice window to return on Wednesday.

“There was a fracture in there, but it felt pretty good most of the time,” said Goedert. “I was just waiting for it to heal. I was able to do pretty much everything. I was still able to play video games, and that’s all that really matters.”

In his absence, head coach Nick Sirianni also found ways to get Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal more involved.

Also, both backup tight ends have played well in Goedert’s absence, and they each caught two passes in last week’s win over the New York Giants.

“It’s just been a lot of fun to watch them go out there,” said Goedert. “Nobody’s really missed a beat. It’s been good for everybody to get more reps in different positions. I hope when I come back that I can help in any way.”

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.