What if A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Britain Covey all miss the Eagles-Bucs game? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
John Ross has never played for the Eagles. Johnny Wilson has one catch in his brief career. Parris Campbell has two catches in an Eagles uniform, and Jahan Dotson has three.
That, potentially, is your Eagles receiving crew this weekend.
With DeVonta Smith likely to miss the Eagles’ game Sunday in Tampa, A.J. Brown’s status iffy with a lingering hamstring injury and Britain Covey on Injured Reserve for at least four games with a shoulder injury, the Eagles are left with a group of healthy wide receivers that has a total of six combined receptions in an Eagles uniform.
The Eagles haven’t played a game without both Smith and Brown since before they acquired Brown during the 2022 draft. And Covey isn’t quite in their category, but he does have seven catches – 2nd-most among Eagles WRs – on seven targets.
In the win in New Orleans, Dotson played 63 snaps, Campbell 36 after his practice squad call-up and Wilson 24. Dotson caught a three-yard pass, Campbell had 2-for-13 and Wilson had a nine-yard first down reception.
Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said the coaches were thrilled with all three for helping get the offense going while playing in roles they were unfamiliar with.
“Excellent job of guys being able to play adjustment football,” Kellen Moore said Tuesday. “Those guys ran around, probably ran a few plays they never ran necessarily other than watching other guys run them (at practice). Being able to hop in there and play those adjustments in positions they probably didn’t anticipate lining up in and being able to execute those plays.
“We feel really confident and comfortable with those guys. Especially (if) you give them a few extra days, they can continue to develop and handle all the different adjustments through a game plan and so we feel very fortunate to have those guys.”
After Smith went down early in the fourth quarter, the Eagles netted 165 yards – five of them from wide receivers.
That was a remarkable stretch highlighted by Saquon Barkley’s 65-yard touchdown run and Dallas Goedert’s 61-yard catch and run (aided greatly by Dotson running interference on a crossing pattern to take safety Will Harris out of the play). But the Eagles know they have to find a way to get their receivers involved to some extent if they’re going to get out of Tampa with a win.
“We’ll see as the week goes on who’s going to be available,” Nick Sirianni said Monday. “We’ll plan for everything. I really have a lot of faith in that wide receiver room. We have Johnny, we have Parris, we have Jahan.
“I know Jahan hasn’t had a ton of catches, but I think he’s been playing efficient football. And sometimes it’s just a matter of seeing it, and then going out there and planning some more things for him and doing some more things to get the ball in his hands.
“And then we have some practice squad guys that are working hard. We’ll see how this all plays out. But I have got a lot of faith in the room. And it can look a lot of different ways. So I have a lot of faith in that tight end room, and I have a lot of faith in the running back room as you look at the skill positions.”
Brown and Smith may be the best duo in the NFL. Brown’s 87.7 yards per game is 4th-highest since he got here in 2022 (behind Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill and CeeDee Lamb), and Smith is one of just 11 WRs with at least 900 yards, 12 ½ yards per catch and five TDs in each of the last three years (along with Lamb, Jefferson and Mike Evans).
Losing one of them is hard enough. The prospect of missing both Sunday is scary.
The Eagles didn’t sign Dotson until Aug. 22, so he missed all of training camp. Wilson was here for camp, but he’s a rookie 6th-round pick and still learning. Campbell was here for camp but released with final cuts on Aug. 27 and signed to the Eagles’ practice squad a day later. Ross spent the summer with the Eagles but was also released Aug. 27. He was out of football until the Eagles signed him on Tuesday.
Dotson and Ross are former 1st-round picks and Campbell was a 2nd-round pick. Also on the practice squad are Danny Gray, a one-time 3rd-round pick of the 49ers; Kyle Phillips, who caught 23 passes for the Titans last year; and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, an undrafted rookie.
And maybe Brown will be able to play Sunday. He’s missed the last two games after suffering a hamstring injury at practice before the Falcons game.
If not? Expect lots of Goedert and Barkley, plus whatever the Eagles can cobble together out of everyone else.
“A lot of different things you can do,” Sirianni said. “Really early in game planning, and I probably wouldn’t share it with you anyway as far as what we’ll do there. But we’ve got options, that’s for sure. Just because we feel good about the work that these guys have put in and the players and the teammates that they are.”
