The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced two roster moves ahead of their Week 1 home game against the Washington Commanders.
Here’s an overview:
- TE Eli Stowers was placed on injured reserve.
- WR Britain Covey was temporarily elevated from the practice squad.
Note: teams are permitted to temporarily elevate up to two practice squad players per game. A player can be elevated up to three times in the regular season and an unlimited number of times in the postseason.
Let’s sort through this news on a player-by-player basis.
ELI STOWERS
Stowers was limited in practice all week due to a hamstring injury before being questionable
to play on Friday’s injury report. Stowers was downgraded to out on Saturday with the Eagles listing him with both hamstring and quadriceps injuries.
The Eagles placing Stowers on IR means that the rookie tight end isn’t eligible to return to the active roster until after Week 4. The remaining tight ends on the team: Dallas Goedert, Johnny Mundt, and E.J. Jenkins.
The timing of Stowers’ new injury is a bit curious since he told reporters on Friday that he expected to play.
Even if Stowers was healthy enough to suit up, it was widely expected that he would be inactive for this game as the fourth tight end on the team’s depth chart. The rookie struggled to make an impact on offense in training camp and preseason games … and he doesn’t exactly offer a special teams background (six total ST snaps over five years of playing college football). By contrast, the Eagles have talked up Jenkins’ ability to contribute in that phase of the game.
And so now Stowers will avoid being a healthy scratch, which wouldn’t have been the most flattering look for him or the Eagles since he was a second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
We’ll see if Stowers is able to get back on the field when he gets healthy.
We’ll also see how the Eagles decide to fill the roster spot he leaves behind.
BRITAIN COVEY
The Eagles temporarily elevating Covey to the roster for Sunday’s game was widely expected. He figures to serve as their primary punt returner in addition to providing depth at wide receiver. 2026 first-round pick Makai Lemon was also considered to be in the mix to return punts but it looks like that won’t be the case for Week 1.
Covey can be temporarily elevated to the roster up to two more times this season.
