The Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning NFC champions, will make it to the NFL playoffs once more this season after Jalen Hurts and company performed well enough to secure a conference berth.
Despite the Eagles’ return to the postseason, there are rumors of internal strife among the players and coaching staff, particularly between head coach Nick Sirianni and standout wide receiver A.J. Brown.
The Eagles have dropped four of their past five games and are no longer the formidable team they were early in the season, when they began the 2023 season with the best record in the league (10–1).
In addition to whatever may be going on behind closed doors, Tim McManus of ESPN reports that the Eagles are struggling with the absence of one of their top offensive weapons, DeVonta Smith, due to an ankle injury that has kept him out of action.
With the Eagles struggling the way the team has been over the past month or so, Philadelphia will need their best players healthy once the NFL playoffs get underway in the coming weeks.
After having a career year last season in Philadelphia, Smith is having another solid year for the Eagles, with the young wide receiver catching 81 passes for 1,066 yards and seven touchdowns thus far.
Although Brown is Hurts’ favorite downfield weapon, Smith definitely helps this team fire on all cylinders, so his status will be monitored heading into Week 18 against the New York Giants and the NFL playoffs that will follow.
