Eagles Activate Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Robert Quinn from IR

The Eagles got a big boost to their defense when they added safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and defensive end Robert Quinn to the 53-man roster off injured reserve on Saturday afternoon.

Both players will play when the Eagles host the New York Giants on Sunday (4:25/CBS) in a game they must win if they want to clinch the top seed in the NFC East playoffs and have next weekend off and host the divisional round of the playoffs.

The Eagles also signed punter Brett Kern off the practice squad. Kern was out of his league-mandated three PS elevations before a move had to be made to bring him to the roster.

To make room for the three players, the Eagles waived offensive lineman Sua Opeta on Friday evening and, on Saturday, placed LB Shaun Bradley (wrist) and DL Janarius Robinson (ankle) on IR.

Gardner-Johnson has missed the last five games with a lacerated kidney. He had six interceptions when he suffered the injury against the Green Bay Packers. That led the league, and it still does, though three other players have pulled into a tie with him – Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick, Denver’s Justin Simmons, and Seattle rookie Tariq Woolen.

Head coach Nick Sirianni sounded confident all week that Gardner-Johnson would be able to return.

“That's not something that you can be there and do a lot with,” said the Eagles coach when asked about the conditioning Gardner-Johnson has been able to do. “But with these last two weeks, he has been able to ramp it up.

“When it is time for him to go, he'll be ready to go physically, not just the injury healed I'm saying, but physically be ready to go. So, he's worked really hard at that the last couple weeks, but he did have to take it easy early on because that was part of the healing process for him.”

Quinn also missed five games, which could help the aging pass rusher, who has only one sack in his last 12 games spanning this season and last, and it didn’t come with the Eagles.

He is still looking for his first sack with Philly, which sent a fourth-round draft pick to Chicago to acquire him on Oct. 26.

“I feel good overall,” said Quinn on Friday, before he knew he would be back on the roster. “I’m back out there running around. I feel (ready to play) every day. If they let me loose, I’ll be ready to perform and help the team win."

The Eagles need four sacks to tie the NFL record of 72 set in 1984.

Quinn’s presence should help a rotation that had put a lot on veteran Brandon Graham’s shoulder last week when Josh Sweat went out in the first quarter with a neck injury.

Sweat has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game.

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.