ESPN: Eagles preparing to play sans Smith (hammy)

With DeVonta Smith (hamstring) also sidelined, life will not be easy for Tanner McKee on Monday evening, even in a plus matchup. Wicks drew some summer hype as a well-paid reclamation project for the Eagles, but he has caught more than three passes only two times all season and has not reached 70 yards since Week 2. He is a poor hold in 12-team leagues with five-man benches.

The Eagles will be without their top two receivers but got good news Saturday with the removal of Dallas Goedert from the injury report. Saquon Barkley is listed as questionable and appears to be a true game-time decision. Considering the low involvement of the backfield in the pass game this season, Goedert stands to benefit the most from the absences at wide receiver. He can be started as an upside TE1 in a solid on-paper matchup against the Cowboys.

Wicks has been banged up for weeks, and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane said Wicks might miss the Eagles’ Week 7 game against the Cowboys. Hopefully, he resumes practicing tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Like Thursday, Smith was sidelined for Friday’s practice. The Eagles have been managing his practice reps and pulled him out for multiple drives in their Week 6 loss to the Panthers. The Eagles face the Cowboys on Monday night, giving Smith an extra day to rest. Consider him highly questionable to play at this time. McLane adds that Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) could also sit out this week.

The Eagles held Smith out for multiple drives in Week 6 against the Panthers, in his first game back from a multi-week hamstring injury. He was also dealing with a toe issue. The latter injury is now behind him, and we suspect that his day off today is just a veteran maintenance day. He should be good to go for the Eagles’ Week 7 game against the Cowboys on Monday night.

Wicks swaps out his multi-week hamstring injury for an ankle injury. He managed to play through it in Week 6 against the Panthers after meeting with the training staff. We expect him to face the Cowboys on Monday night, but he is just a boom-bust FLEX.

Wicks wasn’t much of a factor in this one. Tanner McKee seemed far more comfortable throwing to DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, which left few targets for Wicks. Initial reports have Wicks playing on 40 of the team’s 64 snaps and running a route on 32 of their 52 dropbacks, which was actually fewer than Makai Lemon and only five more than Darius Cooper. Some of that could be because Wicks grabbed at his ankle and left the field after a tackle in the second half. He was able to return to the game later in the half, but he missed a few plays while being tended to by trainers. With McKee at quarterback, it’s hard to trust Wicks in fantasy, regardless of matchup.

Smith was easily the focal point of the passing attack after coming back from injury. He saw the most targets of anybody on the team by six, but many of them were not catchable. However, Tanner McKee kept taking shots down the field, and he made a beautiful pass to Smith in the end zone for a touchdown. The game itself might not be pretty when McKee is under center, but it seems like Smith is going to see the volume to continue producing solid fantasy value. He’s a low-end WR2 in a good matchup against the Cowboys next week.

Apparently, Wicks’ day off on Thursday was only a rest day. The Eagles’ veteran wide receiver was limited on Wednesday and practiced fully today. Wicks played through the injury last week, posting a 5/63 receiving line with DeVonta Smith sidelined. Smith is back this week. Wicks is a boom-bust FLEX starter, catching passes thrown by backup Tanner McKee.

Smith sat out on Wednesday, but practiced in a limited capacity on Thursday before upgrading to full on Friday. Smith told media members earlier today that he is “good,” and that the toe injury is not an issue. Jalen Hurts (blood clot) is out indefinitely, so Smith will be working with pocket-passing backup Tanner McKee. The Panthers are currently without both of their starting perimeter cornerbacks. It might be a bit uncomfortable, but Smith is a WR2 in Week 6.