Eagles nickel cornerback Avonte Maddox will have surgery this week to repair a torn pectoral muscle, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark confirmed. Maddox might miss the rest of the season.
The news was first reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport.
This is a big blow to the Eagles’ secondary.
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The Eagles’ nickel cornerback suffered the injury early in the second quarter against the Vikings on Thursday night, flying across the field to make a tackle. He played 13 snaps in the game before exiting the game with what the team initially called a shoulder injury.
Maddox this weekend seemed to indicate the bad news.
Maddox, 27, has been a good player in his NFL career but he has struggled to stay healthy. Last season he missed eight regular season games and one playoff game as he dealt with three different injuries. Maddox then had offseason toe surgery and that seemed to affect him this summer.
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In his six years in the NFL, Maddox has never played a full season. He has played 13, 12, 10, 16, 9 and now 2 games in his NFL seasons. After signing an extension in 2021, Maddox is under contract through the 2024 season.
Without Maddox, the Eagles’ options at nickel are a bit limited. Their top backup at the position is Mario Goodrich, who played the first 39 defensive snaps of his NFL career on Thursday night. Goodrich, 23, was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Clemson last year. He made the Eagles’ roster as their backup nickel after Zech McPhearson suffered a torn Achilles in the preseason. McPhearson was expected to be the backup nickel in 2023 before the injury.
The other option the Eagles have is James Bradberry. The 30-year-old veteran took snaps inside this summer. So we could see a scenario where Bradberry starts outside and bumps inside when the Eagles are in nickel. Second-year cornerback Josh Jobe started on Thursday night for Bradberry, who was out with a concussion. There’s a chance the Eagles might be more comfortable playing Jobe over Goodrich and using Bradberry inside depending on the matchup. The Eagles could also use their "big nickel" package at times with a safety in the box.
The only other cornerbacks on the Eagles’ roster are Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks, who both didn’t take snaps inside this summer.
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