Some help coming for Eagles’ edge rusher rotation originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles on Wednesday morning activated the 21-day practice window for defensive end Bryce Huff.
Huff, 26, had wrist surgery on Nov. 21 in hopes to return for the stretch run and the playoffs and it looks like that’s going to happen.
Huff has been on Injured Reserve for the last four weeks and is now eligible to return. He will practice this week leading up to the Commanders game but the Eagles will have three weeks to make a decision on when to bring him back to the 53-man lineup.
Before getting surgery in late November, Huff battled through the injury for a few games and had been wearing a hard cast on his wrist.
“He’s really done a good job of battling through but this will hopefully help get him some more function in that hand and we’ll see as the season continues,” head coach Nick Sirianni said the day before surgery. “I just can’t say enough of how he battled through and tried to keep going through it. Hopefully, this helps him.”
The game after Huff went on IR, the Eagles lost Brandon Graham for the season with a torn triceps. In the three games since, the Eagles have gone with a three-man edge rusher rotation with Nolan Smith, Josh Sweat and rookie Jalyx Hunt. The Eagles added Chuck Harris off waivers, but in his three games, he has played a total of 4 snaps.
So even if Huff doesn’t play to the level the Eagles were hoping to get when they signed him to a three-year, $51.1 million deal this offseason, his presence in the rotation could still help.
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on Tuesday said he didn’t know anything about Huff’s status but said the Eagles would be able to use a three-man rotation into the playoffs if necessary.
“Yes, we definitely can,” Fangio said. “It can be done. I’ve seen it done personally. There is no reason why you can’t.”
In 10 games before surgery and IR, Huff definitely hadn’t lived up to that contract. He had just 2 1/2 sacks, 4 QB hits and 3 tackles for loss. Huff had been a part-time player with the New York Jets and the Eagles projected him to be more than that. He started early in the 2024 season with the Eagles but slowly lost his spot in that rotation to Smith.
With the Jets, Huff was mostly a third-down pass-rush specialist, whose job it was to get after the quarterback. He had a 10-sack season in 2023 and in 2022 and 2023 was impressive based on advanced analytics, which look at pass rush success beyond just sacks.
Even if Huff can’t become a star or even a starter in Philly, it might help to get him back on the field in some role.
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