The Eagles will add a punter this week to replace the injured Arryn Siposs, Head Coach Nick Sirianni said on Monday at his weekly day-after press conference at the NovaCare Complex. Siposs was injured in the second quarter of Sunday's 48-22 win over the New York Giants when he scooped up a blocked punt and ran along the sidelines trying to gain a first down and was hit out of bounds. He suffered a lower-leg injury and left the locker room after the game in a walking boot and on crutches.
A day later, the Eagles learned that that injury will keep him out indefinitely.
"It's going to be a little bit longer than we expected, so we will have to bring somebody in," Sirianni said. "Don't really know how long it's going to be, but we're planning. We'll obviously bring somebody in, and we're working through that right now."
In other injury news, Sirianni said "it's looking good" with safety Reed Blankenship, who left Sunday's game with an apparent knee injury, and right tackle Lane Johnson, who exited Sunday's win with an abdominal injury. Johnson later told reporters in the locker room that he would have been able to return to the game if needed.
"Obviously, I'm not going to put a timetable on either of those guys," Sirianni said. "We'll see how they progress, but both of them, we'll get more tests done and get more time with treatment and we'll see how they're doing. But both of them, we feel like we are in a good spot, and we're hopeful."
The Eagles play at Chicago on Sunday, which means the defense will have its hands full with Bears quarterback Justin Fields, a second-year player who is a dangerous dual threat – he's completed 62 percent of his passes for nearly 1,900 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, and he leads all NFL quarterbacks with 905 rushing yards, scoring 8 touchdowns and averaging more than 7 yards per carry. Fields has improved weekly for the 3-10 Bears, who have lost six straight games.
Sirianni understands the challenges Fields presents, in many ways similar to the stress Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts imposes on defenses. The familiarity the Eagles have with Hurts and seeing him throughout Training Camp, for example, could help the defense on Sunday at Soldier Field.
"I think that's a big help. There's going to be a lot -- as you guys know, there's a lot of communication, cross-communication between the offensive staff and the defensive staff," Sirianni said. "You guys have asked me before with (Defensive Coordinator) Jonathan Gannon and how many conversations he and I have had about how to attack a defense that he's very familiar with, dating back to our Indy days, obviously, into here. Then there are times where we can repay the favor of, 'Hey, this is a style of offense that we've run in the past.'
"So, there will be a lot of cross-talking, what affects us here and there. That to me, using every resource that you have is our job as coaches, is to make sure we leave no stone unturned to help us put the players in position to win the game. Obviously, they've seen some of the things that we've run. We're still early in our preparation for it, but I know the Bears are doing an outstanding job. Really hats off to their offensive coaching staff of what they've done to succeed and use their quarterback. I have a lot of respect for that and their coaches.
"Yeah, we'll be talking like crazy about it, and it does help that they have stuff on Training Camp that's going to look a little similar to what the stuff that Chicago is running, and they can bounce things off of Training Camp reps of what they did to succeed against us in Training Camp on the offensive side."
