Eagles notes, thoughts & buzz: Replacing Avonte Maddox, the RB rotation, a new punter

1. The Eagles must find a solution at slot cornerback after Avonte Maddox tore his pectoral and could miss the remainder of the season. The defense was already down its top backup option when Zech McPhearson suffered a season-ending injury during the preseason.

At this point, the franchise does not plan to look externally for a replacement.

“We feel like we have good options in-house to be able to move forward,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “That’s why we cross-train people, whether that’s a corner, a safety, whether that’s the guys that play nickel.  Listen, are we going to miss Avonte? Of course we are. …But we like some of our options.”

The “next man up” is Mario Goodrich, who was kept on the roster specifically to be the backup slot cornerback. Goodrich was an undrafted rookie out of Clemson last season who spent the season on the practice squad. He was elevated to the roster for a Week 10 game against Washington before making the 53-man roster this season. His first action came last week. It’s ambitious to expect him to assume what is essentially a starting role, although the Eagles are deeper on outside cornerbacks than they are with slot options.

That’s where James Bradberry comes in. Bradberry worked in the slot during training camp. At the time, it seemed like something the Eagles could use depending on matchups — say, against pass-catching tight ends who line up in the slot such as Travis Kelce or big-bodied slot receivers who would present a size mismatch for Maddox. It’s uncharacteristic for the Eagles to take one of their best players and move him to a different position for the majority of the snaps. But if the objective is to play the top three cornerbacks, an argument could be made that when the Eagles are in nickel, Bradberry can play inside and Josh Jobe can play on the perimeter.

“That’s kind of something I don’t want to say quite yet, obviously just because I think there is a mystery of unknown that their slot receivers will have to prepare for,” Sirianni said. “I will say we feel like we have really good options there. We’ve worked with many different guys, not just James, but many different guys right there.”

The other options include seeing how one of their depth cornerbacks on the outside, such as Eli Ricks, would look in the slot. He played inside on one snap in dime against the Vikings, covering Justin Jefferson. They can even move a safety such as Sydney Brown and Justin Evans. Evans played 135 snaps in the slot last season with New Orleans, according to Pro Football Focus.

Keeping Goodrich as slot depth made sense for a short-term injury, although Maddox’s extended absence forces the Eagles to think of permanent options. But it’s still so early in the season that it would behoove them to learn on the fly with their internal options, understanding that Bradberry can play there when needed and that they can resort to seeking external options if it proves to be a problem. At this point, my guess is the Eagles see what they have in Goodrich and use Bradberry in certain matchups. (They tried with Josiah Scott last season.) We’ll learn more this week.

2. Something to store away while the Eagles navigate their slot cornerback situation: This is the first year they have a designated coach for the position.

Ronnell Williams, a Chester native, was hired this offseason as the nickel coach. He spent five years working on the Chicago Bears’ staff and defensive coordinator Sean Desai wanted that role on the Eagles’ reconfigured defensive staff this offseason.

“I think the nickel is a marquee position in this league,” Desai said. “I think they need specialized training. If you lump them with safeties and corners and go through those (individual) drills, you miss out on it. That’s kind of the reason of why. …It is unique. Not many people have that.”

This speaks to the importance of the slot role. It’s not as if any cornerback or safety could play there. Williams will be an important behind-the-scenes figure in the coming weeks while the Eagles find Maddox’s replacement. Like Desai said, it requires specialized training. There’s a reason why the Eagles gave Maddox a lucrative contract extension in 2021.

3. Speaking of Maddox, it’s worth wondering about his future with the Eagles. When he’s on the field, there’s no question that he’s a major contributor. The defense is better with Maddox, and he provides a level of skill, athleticism, versatility, and toughness that can be difficult to find — or, as the Eagles learning now, difficult to replace.

But Maddox has now missed time because of injuries in five of six seasons. He missed nine games last season (including the divisional round playoff game) and if this proves to be a season-ending injury, he’ll miss the next 15 games. Next season is the final year of his three-year contract extension, and he carries a cap number of $10.1 million, per overthecap.com. That’s a big number for a slot cornerback coming off two injury-plagued seasons. The Eagles could save $7.5 million in cap space by making him a post-June 1 cut. They could also seek to restructure his contract. It’s a tough situation because he’s a good player, but this is going to be a story to watch during the offseason.

4. If you witnessed D’Andre Swift rush for a career-high 175 yards on Thursday and were perplexed why he had only two touches in the season opener against New England, there does not appear to be a good reason. Kenny Gainwell was out against Minnesota, which gave Swift a larger role. It’s worth wondering what Swift’s workload would have been had Gainwell been healthy. Sirianni lamented Swift getting only two touches in the opener, but the Eagles have not offered any indication that they would make Swift a workhorse running back. The emphasis has seemingly been on a committee approach.

“In (the Patriots game) we felt like that was the best decision that Kenny was going on that one,” Sirianni said. “He had some nice early carries. Obviously, Kenny wasn’t able to go in the next one and D’Andre took it. Like I said, this is going to be — depending on who gets the hot hand, that’s how it’s going to look. We know they are all capable of doing what they did and what they’ve done, so really excited about D’Andre and his ability of what he showed in the game. We’re going to continue to want him to touch the football.”

You can expect Swift to have a big role in the backfield, as long as he remains healthy. He brings the highest ceiling with his big-play ability, and his vision and burst were apparent against the Vikings. This is not to suggest that Gainwell won’t continue to play a role. The Eagles coaches trust Gainwell — especially in hurry-up and red zone situations. But the Eagles must make sure Swift gets a steady dose of touches and he should lead the backfield each week. The offense is better with him on the field.

5. At last, the Eagles are making a change at punter. After two-plus seasons with Arryn Siposs as the primary punter, the Eagles released Siposs from the practice squad and added Braden Mann.

Mann, 25, was a 2020 sixth-round pick who spent three seasons as the New York Jets’ punter. He averaged 46.9 yards per punt last season with 27 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He won AFC special teams player of the week in Week 2 last season following a successful onside kick and a fake punt (so not exactly for his punting ability). But he’s an experienced punter with credentials — a unanimous all-American at Texas A&M who won the Ray Guy Award in 2018. The Eagles will elevate Mann from the practice squad before a roster decision must eventually be made.

“After two weeks, we decided we wanted to make a change,” Sirianni said. “Arryn has been a great teammate to his teammates. He’s been spot-on as a holder. Right now, at this particular time, we just thought what was in the best interest for the team was to move forward with Braden.  …We have a little bit of a longer week to make sure the operation is clean, and so that’s why it is the way it is right now.”

Siposs’ inconsistencies during the past two seasons have been well-documented. The Eagles have been reluctant to make a major change, but waiving Siposs at roster cut-down day and keeping him on practice squad instead of the 53-man roster showed their lukewarm endorsement of the punter. Mann’s first chance to hold the job comes Monday against Tampa Bay.