Dallas Goedert to miss extended time: Reactions, contingency plans

Attrition is the word that keeps coming to mind. The NFL’s regular season is a marathon, not a sprint, and the Philadelphia Eagles, in 12 days, have gone from being one of the NFL’s healthiest teams to being one that has some significant injuries in key areas. Add Dallas Goedert‘s name to the list of Philly’s wounded.

Let’s rewind before discussing the Goedert injury. This snowball effect began in Week 8 during a game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers when Jordan Davis suffered a high-ankle sprain. The next thing you know, he’s on the injured reserve.

Four days later, the Eagles were in Houston to battle the Texans. They lost Avonte Maddox who would join Davis on the I.R. on November 14th, one day before Philly lost arguably one of the five best tight ends during the fourth quarter of their first loss of the season, an unexpected 32-21 upset at the hands of the Washington Commanders.

The good news is none of those guys’ injuries are season-ending and all are expected to be back at some point. The questions are about how long they’ll be absent.

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports Goedert will “miss extended time with a shoulder injury”. Clearly, the news isn’t what we had hoped we’d hear, but injuries are a part of the game.

With the NFL’s trade deadline in our rearview mirror, the Birds have two options: sign someone or rely on the guys that they already have. Let’s take a look at both theories because we need to move quickly. Perhaps you’ve heard, but Philadelphia has a game to play in Indianapolis versus the Colts on Sunday.

It wouldn’t be wise to replace Dallas Goedert by trying and sign someone off of the street.

Typically the initial reaction by fans when something like this happens is to suggest the signing of someone off of the street, so let’s deal with that one first. This won’t take long because you aren’t going to like the options.

Ricky Seals-Jones might be the best of the bunch on a list of names that houses guys like Jared Cook, Eric Ebron, Anthony Firkser, and Jimmy Graham. That is unless, of course, Philly can talk Rob Gronkowski out of retirement.

This is typically when Philly would have kicked the tires on Richard Rodgers, but he’s already been snatched up by the L.A. Chargers.

Here’s a diagnosis of the Eagles’ tight end room minus Dallas Goedert.

Welp, it appears that we must dust off tired old phrases like ‘next man up’. Teams hire position coaches for a reason, and we’re about to learn a lot about how good Jason Michael is.

A man with 20 years of coaching experience, Michael joined Nick Sirianni’s staff in 2021. It’s his job to help supervise the juggling act at the tight end position. Here’s what he has to deal with.

Past Goedert, the Eagles have two on the active roster, Grant Calcaterra and Jack Stoll. Neither have Dallas Goedert’s ability. Both are however talented in their own right. It’s time for one or both to grow up in a hurry.

Past them, there’s Noah Togiai on the practice squad. He had a decent spring and summer, but not great. Jaeden Graham is on injured reserve. Tyree Jackson has been on the physically unable to perform list since the season started.

The Eagles opened a 21-day practice window for the latter on October 26th. They ironically have until this Wednesday, November 16th to elevate him to the active roster. Otherwise, he’ll be added to the injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

Tyree Jackson to the rescue? It’s possible. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, with the weapons that Philadelphia has on offense, they should be able to tread water until Dallas Goedert returns… at least we hope they can.

We’re about to learn how good these Eagles coaches and players are. Howie Roseman can’t keep signing guys to mask what’s been a long-standing issue. The general manager can’t keep signing guys to mask the fact that the Eagles haven’t always done a great job of coaching their guys up.