Eagles place Mike Wallace on injured reserve to make room for Jordan Matthews

The Philadelphia Eagles placed Mike Wallace on the injured reserve list in order to make room for Jordan Matthews on the 53-man roster, according to an official announcement from the team on Wednesday morning.

Wallace suffered a fractured fibula during the Eagles’ Week 2 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also seemingly underwent surgery on Tuesday:

Losing Wallace hurts the Eagles’ deep passing game. Although the 32-year-old failed to log a reception in his first two games with Philadelphia, he was still running some of the fastest routes in the league (per NFL’s Next Gen Stats).

It’s worth noting that Wallace is eligible to be activated to the Eagles’ roster after eight weeks. NFL teams are permitted to return two players from the IR list each season. It’s unclear, however, if Wallace will be physically ready to return. Another consideration is that the Eagles already have Mack Hollins and Richard Rodgers on IR and the team could look to activate those players.

Philadelphia’s wide receiver situation is obviously dire. Two of the Eagles’ top four receiving options heading into the 2018 season are now on injured reserve. Another one of the top four, Alshon Jeffery, is still working his way back from injury.

The Eagles will have four receivers active for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts: Nelson Agholor, Kamar Aiken, Shelton Gibson, and now JMatt.