Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Eli to IR

Posted September 12th, 2026 | No Comments »

The Eagles made a couple of moves on Saturday afternoon. The headliner was putting rookie TE Eli Stowers on IR. He had been dealing with a hamstring injury and recently suffered a quad strain. The team put him on IR so that he can focus on rehab.

They didn’t fill his roster spot on Saturday. That could mean they will sign Zach Ertz on Monday. The Eagles have talked to Ertz and there seems to be interest from both sides. We’ll find out if that leads to a reunion. They would wait until Monday so that the contract isn’t guaranteed. You normally see multiple teams make moves after Week 1 for that very reason.

Stowers isn’t off to the best start with his career. He has missed time due to injury and failed to impress when he did play. Some want to rip the Eagles for taking him in the second round. Some want to label him a bust. I get the frustration with how things have played out to this point. TE isn’t a strength for the Eagles and getting so little from a high pick is disappointing.

While people on the outside have their doubts, the Eagles still believe in Stowers. They drafted him 54th overall for a reason. They see a dynamic athlete with big time potential. Some rookie struggles have not eroded their confidence in him. The Eagles are patient with players. Think about how Ty Robinson and Kelee Ringo struggled early in the summer and then came on late. Think back to 2023. Nakobe Dean only played in 5 games and didn’t look particularly good when he did play. Howie got asked about him at the end of the season press conference.

That worked out pretty well.

There are no guarantees that Stowers will pan out. The Eagles have been wrong before and will be again. But there is no need to rush to judgment. You’d rather be patient in case Stowers does turn it around. He did work hard this summer to try and improve. His effort as a blocker got better. The results weren’t great, but there was legit effort. He stayed after practice to work with the JUGs machine. This wasn’t a guy racing home to check his bank account and play video games.

Give the rookie a chance. A slow start is just that…a start. Let’s see what he does over time.

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The other move the Eagles made was to elevate Britain Covey for the game. That means he will be the punt returner. There will be some rain in Philly on Sunday. The Eagles might prefer a veteran PR in case weather is a factor. Makai Lemon is a rookie and will be making his NFL debut. Elijah Moore is new to The Linc. Cooper DeJean is a key defensive player they may prefer not to be the PR.

And Covey is good. He averages 11.3 yards per PR for his career. Elevating him does make some sense.

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Really interesting piece here. Has an amazing stat on our good buddy Jimmy Bama.

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