Eagles place Jalen Reagor on injured reserve after waiting a week to do so

The Philadelphia Eagles finally placed Jalen Reagor on injured reserve, according to an official announcement from the team. The rookie wide receiver suffered a thumb injury that required surgery during the Eagles’ Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

It’s curious that the Eagles waited until now to place Reagor on IR. They could’ve done it before their Week 3 game and Reagor would’ve been able to return as soon as Week 6. Now he won’t be able to return until Week 7 at the earliest since he’ll be required to miss at least three weeks.

NFL insider Mike Garafolo offers some insight on the Eagles’ thinking:

OK ... but the Eagles still could’ve placed Reagor on IR last week and filled his roster spot instead of just wasting it for no good reason. This is hardly top notch roster management.

Reports indicate that Reagor might not be able to return until around Week 10. The Eagles’ season could very much be toast by then but it’ll still be nice to get the 21-year-old back so he can work on developing his game.

In the meantime, Reagor’s injury leaves the Eagles thin at the receiver position. Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson are expected to return soon but it might not be in time for this week’s game. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside got banged up before this past week’s Cincinnati Bengals game and he’s been invisible when healthy anyway. On the positive side, the Eagles did activate Quez Watkins’ 21-day practice window on Tuesday so he might come off IR. The Eagles can use their new vacant roster spot to put Watkins on the 53. They can also still elevate Deontay Burnett from the practice squad if need be.

Here’s hoping Reagor a speedy recover. It’s bad enough that the Eagles are bad. It’s even worse that one of their young players who provides hope for the future won’t be able to play for some time.