Eagles Injury Report: Derek Barnett upgraded, Kamu Grugier-Hill making progess

The Philadelphia Eagles announced their second official injury report on Thursday in advance of their Week 2 game against the Atlanta Falcons.

The only change from Wednesday’s injury report is that Derek Barnett was full go today after being limited yesterday. Good to see.

Fletcher Cox and Nate Sudfeld were limited once again.

Cox should play on Sunday but he doesn’t appear to be quite 100% yet following his offseason recovery. The Eagles only had Cox play 66% of their defensive snaps in Week 1. The team would ideally like to manage Cox’s snaps even if he was fully healthy — just like they did back in 2017 — but they’ll especially keep an eye on it now.

Sudfeld figures to be inactive on Sunday. Even if he was the No. 2 quarterback over Josh McCown — which he seemingly isn’t — there’s no need to rush him back.

Kamu Grugier-Hill and Jordan Mailata didn’t practice once again.

Grugier-Hill is making some progress. The Eagles’ starting linebacker and special teams captain was seen doing some rehab work on a side field. Grugier-Hill originally suffered his MCL injury back on August 4. It was reported at the time that he’d be out for six-to-eight weeks. If that timeline holds up, Grugier-Hill should be back by Week 4. The Eagles have a short week as they travel to play the Packers in Green Bay on Thursday Night Football, though, so maybe Week 5 is more realistic for Kamu’s return. He’d be nine weeks removed from injury at that point.

Mailata watched practice from the sidelines. The second-year offensive tackle was described as “week-to-week” as of last week.

The Eagles will put out their third and final injury report leading up to Sunday’s game on Friday.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES INJURY REPORT (THURSDAY)

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

LB Kamu Grugier-Hill (knee)
OT Jordan Mailata (back)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

DT Fletcher Cox (toe)
QB Nate Sudfeld (wrist)

FULL PARTICIPATION

DE Derek Barnett (shoulder)

ATLANTA FALCONS INJURY REPORT (THURSDAY)

There are two changes from the Falcons’ Wednesday injury report.

The first is that role player wide receiver Russell Gage was upgraded to being limited after sitting out on Wednesday. Gage still must pass through the league’s mandatory concussion protocol before being cleared for Sunday’s game.

The second change is that former Eagles and current Falcons kick/punt returner Kenjon Barner was added to the injury report with an ankle issue. It appears he got banged up during Thursday’s practice. The Falcoholic highlighted Barner as a “bright spot” from the Falcons’ 28-12 loss to the Vikings in Week 1:

At the end of the game, Barner had 4 punt returns for 46 yards—which comes out to a very good 11.5 yard average. He wasn’t quite as electric on kickoff returns, with just 2 for 44 yards (22.0 average), but both were off well-placed kicks that were just short of the goal line. In a game where the Falcons struggled pretty much everywhere, Barner was one of the only consistently bright spots for the team.

We knew that improving the return position was a point of emphasis for new special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica this offseason. So far, the early returns are pretty positive with Kenjon Barner. I may have underrated his chances early in the offseason after the team seemed to bring in a ton of competition, but Barner has proven himself as a quality option thus far. At the very least, he’s a significant upgrade over Justin Hardy.

If Barner can’t play, the Falcons’ special teams units could be worse off.

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

RB Kenjon Barner (ankle)
WR Russell Gage (concussion)
OT Matt Gono (back)
OG Wes Schweitzer (shoulder)

FULL PARTICIPATION

DT Deadrin Senat (back)