Eagles snap counts: Offense gets a boost from an unlikely source originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles were finally at full strength on offense Sunday afternoon but it didn’t last long.
Dallas Goedert suffered a hamstring injury on the first drive of the Eagles’ 20-16 win over the Browns and did not return. In his absence, third-year tight end Grant Calcaterra had a career game.
Goedert played just 3 snaps on Sunday before leaving. Calcaterra played 57 of 62 snaps on offense, which was a career high, besting his previous mark of 39 against the Giants in 2022. Jack Stoll played 39/62.
It was also a career game in the stat sheet for Calcaterra, who had 4 catches for 67 yards. He had a 34-yarder and a 20-yarder during this game and quarterback Jalen Hurts seemed to trust him.
“Well, I think the biggest takeaway from that, and in five games, it’s only been one time where we really just had, you know, everyone out there, our clean slate, first unit, first group,” Hurts said. “And so that definitely presents a challenge in itself that we have to overcome as a team. But I’m very proud of how, they were prepared to step up and be ready.
“And then, honestly, some of those things just pop, you know, is Grant. He had two back-to-back (catches). Yeah, the second one is never supposed to go to him, to be honest. It’s not his ball. But he showed up. We were able to get it to him, and he ran with the ball in his hands.”
Before Sunday’s game, Calcaterra had 176 career receiving yards in 34 games. He had more yards against the Browns than he did in 15 games last year. Calcaterra’s performance on Sunday is 27% of his career output.
Other offensive notes
• Jordan Mailata played the first 49 snaps of the game before leaving with a hamstring injury. Fred Johnson played the final 13 snaps and held up against All-Pro Myles Garrett. Mailata was seen on crutches and with his left leg in a sleeve after the game.
• Jalen Hurts and four o this five offensive linemen played all 62 snaps. Devonta Smith also played all 62 and had 3 caches for 64 yards and a touchdown.
• A.J. Brown played 57 of 62 in his return after missing three games with a hamstring injury. He had a typical A.J. Brown game with 6 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. After that, Jahan Dotson played 22 snaps, Johnny Wilson played 4 and Parris Campbell didn’t see the field.
• At running back, Saquon Barkley played 49 of 62 snaps and had his roughest outing of the season. He had just 47 carries on 18 rushing attempts. Jim Schwartz’s defense did a good job against Barkley. Kenny Gainwell played 13 snaps and Will Shipley didn’t see the field on offense.
• Reed Blankenship got his three snaps on offense. He’s the deep guy in the victory formation. Whenever Eagles fans see Blankenship get offensive snaps, it’s a good thing.
Defensive notes
• The biggest personnel change after the bye week was switching from Avonte Maddox to Cooper DeJean as the nickel cornerback. DeJean started the game and played 52 of 57 defensive snaps (91%) and played well. Maddox was the extra defender in the dime package and was on the field for just two plays.
• Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell, Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson didn’t leave the field, playing all 57 snaps.
• At DT: Jalen Carter (43), Milton Williams (26), Jordan Davis (21), Moro Ojomo (21), Thomas Booker (8). Ojomo is getting pressure and earning a real spot in this rotation.
• On the edge: Josh Sweat (39), Bryce Huff (31), Brandon Graham (23), Nolan Smith (21). Huff’s 54% is a season high and he finally did some good things. Huff had a couple tackles, half a sack and a QB hit in this game. The Browns have given up a ton of pressure and sacks this season but the Eagles’ front was good on Sunday.
• When the Eagles went to their dime package, Baun stayed on the field and Nakobe Dean left. That’s why Dean played 55 of 57 snaps.
• Darius Slay played 29 snaps before leaving with a knee injury. In his place, Isaiah Rodgers played 22 snaps and Kelee Ringo played 6. It’s a boost for the Eagles to have decent depth at cornerback.
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