Eagles Place 2nd-round Pick Eli Stowers On Ir Ahead Of Opener

Eagles place 2nd-round pick Eli Stowers on IR ahead of opener originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Eagles on Saturday placed second-round pick Eli Stowers on Injured Reserve with quadriceps and hamstring injuries.

The team also elevated Britain Covey from the practice squad. Expect Covey to return punts against the Commanders.

Stowers, 23, was a limited participant in practice all week with a hamstring injury he suffered in the preseason and had been listed as questionable for Week 1. Stowers on Friday even said he expected to play.

But after reporting discomfort in his leg, the team discovered through digital imaging he had a quadriceps strain that will take several weeks to rehab. By placing Stowers on IR, he’ll have to miss a minimum of four games before the rookie tight end is eligible to return.

Even before that hamstring injury in the preseason, it was a tough training camp for the rookie second-round pick from Vanderbilt. The Eagles drafted him at No. 54 overall as a developmental prospect, but Stowers struggled and barely flashed all summer.

How does he stay patient when success might not come early?

“Everybody’s road and development, it’s different for every single person,” Stowers said on Friday. “Really just every single day you want to come to work with the attitude that you want to get better and just put your best foot forward every single day. That’s really all you can do. Just focus on what you can control and that’s what I remind myself of.”

Without Stowers against the Commanders, the Eagles’ three tight ends will be Dallas Goedert, Johnny Mundt and E.J. Jenkins. The Eagles now have an open spot on their 53-man roster and could probably benefit from bringing in another tight end. We’ll see what they do next week.

It’s notable that the Eagles didn’t use this roster spot to promote Covey. They elevated him from the practice squad, which means he has two elevations left this season.

Covey, 29, has significant NFL punt return experience with 79 career returns under his belt with a career average of 11.3 yards. He is the Eagles’ safest bet at the position, but perhaps first-round pick Makai Lemon eventually takes over.