Eagles rule out starting cornerback for season opener in Brazil originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
SÃO PAULO — The Eagles will be without Isaiah Rodgers for their season opener against the Packers in Brazil.
Rodgers, 26, has been limited all week with a hand injury but was officially ruled out by the Eagles on Thursday afternoon. Rodgers made the trip to São Paulo and was on the field during their walkthrough at Corinthians Arena but will not play in this game.
Rodgers joins Devin White (ankle) as the two Eagles who have been ruled out for this game. Everyone else is expected to be available against the Packers.
Throughout the summer, Rodgers got a ton of work with the first-team defense opposite Darius Slay as a starting cornerback. So this is definitely a loss.
Rodgers had a strong training camp after missing the entire 2023 season because of a suspension. He hasn’t played in a game since 2022 and he’ll have to wait at least one more week to make his return.
Rookie Quinyon Mitchell is going to have a big role from the first game of his first NFL season. Mitchell was expected to be a starting outside cornerback in the Eagles’ base package and bump inside on nickel downs. That could still be the plan in the opener even without Rodgers. In that case, the Eagles would likely put Kelee Ringo on the field as an outside cornerback. Ringo got some experience last season as a rookie and took plenty of first-team reps this summer.
The other option is to have Mitchell start and play the entire game at outside cornerback. In that case, veteran Avonte Maddox would likely be the guy to play nickel corner. While Maddox played mostly safety in training camp, he has been a slot corner for most of his career.
Without White (ankle), who didn’t even make the trip to Brazil, the Eagles are expected to start Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun at linebacker. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. could also see some action.
