Jalen Mills Injury: Eagles cornerback is reportedly “week-to-week”

Eagles starting cornerback Jalen Mills suffered a foot sprain during Philadelphia’s Week 8 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and is being described as “week-to-week,” according to a report from NFL insider Ian Rapoport.

Before I say more, it must be noted that a number of Rapoport’s reports about Eagles injuries this season haven’t exactly been 100% accurate. So take this update for what it’s worth.

In the event that Rapoport is correct, Mills’ “week-to-week” designation means the Eagles cornerback could miss multiple games. That’s the term Doug Pederson typically uses to describe players who are going to be out longer than one week. (Hence, week-to-week.)

With Mills potentially missing time, it’ll be interesting to see who takes his place in the starting lineup. Rasul Douglas is the most obvious candidate considering he filled in when Mills had to leave early last Sunday.

But what if Sidney Jones is ready to return from a hamstring injury that’s caused him to miss the last two games? Jones was originally given the “week-to-week” designation after getting hurt on Thursday Night Football in Week 6, so it’s unclear if he’ll be healthy enough to play after the bye. Assuming he is ready to suit up, the Eagles could have Jones play on the outside on base downs before shifting him to the slot in nickel packages. Douglas could then come in to play the outside in those situations. Alternatively, the Eagles could exclusively use Jones as a slot corner and just keep Douglas on the outside in base.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles’ defensive back configuration looks coming out of the bye. We’ll have more of an update on the status of Mills and Jones (and others) when the Eagles return to practice next week.