The Jaguars have several key offensive players listed as limited for this Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
Wide receiver Brian Thomas (chest) is part of that group after being injured in last Sunday’s loss to the Packers. He was limited in practice for the third day in a row on Friday.
Running backs Travis Etienne (hamstring) and Tank Bigsby (ankle) are also in that category. Head coach Doug Pederson said earlier this week that he feels good about Etienne returning after missing the last two games.
Wide receiver Gabe Davis (shoulder) and right guard Brandon Scherff (knee) round out the group. Left guard Ezra Cleveland (ankle) and wide receiver Christian Kirk (collarbone) have been ruled out.
Safety Andrew Wingard (knee) and running back Keilan Robinson (knee) also drew questionable tags while defensive tackle Maason Smith (ankle) is out.
Friday additions to the injury report are often bad news for Sunday availability, but that’s not the case for Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith.
Smith did not practice on Friday and the Eagles listed him as missing the session for personal reasons. He did not receive an injury designation on their final report, however, and that leaves him on track to play against the Jaguars this weekend.
Two other Eagles players have been ruled out, however. Tight end Dallas Goedert (hamstring) and cornerback Darius Slay (groin) are not going to be in the lineup this weekend.
It will be the third game in a row that Goedert has missed while Slay was injured during last Sunday’s win over the Bengals.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had a chance to golf with Barack Obama earlier this week. Hurts said that, while he was present for the round involving Obama, owner Jeffrey Lurie, and running back Saquon Barkley, Hurts didn’t play — because his contract prevents him from golfing.
As it turns out, Hurts’s contract doesn’t contain a no-golf clause.
Via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the team said Hurts is simply honoring a verbal request from Lurie, who didn’t want his team’s franchise quarterback to become obsessed with golf.
It’s still unusual, an unofficial Kyler Murray study clause-style term. Murray’s controversial requirement to spend a certain amount of time each week working on the playbook and game plan was dropped by the team once it became a thing.
Here, there’s nothing to drop. Hurts is allowed to golf if he wants to. He’s just staying away from it, so that he doesn’t end up spending a bunch of time practicing and playing.
In a way, it’s a belated backhanded slap at former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who arguably spent too much of his non-football time honing his golf skills. No matter how good anyone is as a golfer, it takes a lot of time to get to the maximum level of performance. There’s a point at which that can impact the player reaching his maximum level of football performance, if the desire to work on golf becomes a temptation to not work on football.
The NFL doesn’t just deploy the secret, rigged, kangaroo court of arbitration against its employees. The NFL uses it on its customers, too.
Recently, a federal appeals court found that four fans who were injured when a railing collapsed at FedEx Field after an Eagles-Commanders game might be required to pursue their claims in arbitration.
The four fans didn’t buy the tickets. They never saw the tickets. Someone else bought the tickets and invited them to attend.
The lower court ruled that the four fans who were injured weren’t bound by the arbitration requirement in the tickets. The appeals court disagreed.
The case has been sent back to the lower court to determine whether the person who bought the tickets accepted the condition that any claims would be required to go to arbitration. If the person who bought the tickets did indeed accept that term, those who used the tickets are subject to the arbitration requirement, even if they didn’t know about it.
Here’s the provision that appeared in the terms and conditions of the Washington tickets: “ANY DISPUTE, CLAIM, OR CAUSE OF ACTION IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE TICKET OR THE EVENT SHALL BE RESOLVED BY MANDATORY, CONFIDENTIAL, FINAL, AND BINDING ARBITRATION . . . . HOLDER UNDERSTANDS THAT THEY ARE WAIVING THEIR RIGHT TO A COURT OR JURY TRIAL . . . . IF HOLDER DOES NOT CONSENT TO THIS CLAUSE, HOLDER MUST LEAVE OR NOT ENTER THE STADIUM. THIS CLAUSE IS GOVERNED BY THE FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT.”
Again, the four people who were injured when the railing collapsed never saw that term. They never agreed to that term. But the federal appeals court found that, if the person who bought the tickets is bound by that provision, they are, too.
There’s a deeper issue at play here, one that will be largely overlooked in the upcoming election. The president appoints all federal judges, at every level. And the clear trend, proven time and again, goes like this: Judges appointed by Republican presidents tend to favor the interests of businesses, and judges appointed by Democratic presidents tend to favor the interests of the individual.
I’ve witnessed this, during 18 years of practicing law before I escaped and never looked back. The law is malleable. The presiding judge has a massive impact in how, and if, justice is dispensed. The proliferation of arbitration clauses has given judges who are inclined to support business interests an easy way to short circuit the process by forcing the case into a forum that makes it much harder for the individual to prevail.
That’s why these companies tuck arbitration clauses into any and all transactions, from the negotiation of an employment contract to the purchase of a ticket to a game.
In this case, the judge who found that the four injured people aren’t bound by an arbitration clause they never saw was appointed by a Democratic president. The judge who wrote the opinion finding that they’re potentially stuck with the arbitration clause they never saw was appointed by a Republican president.
It’s unclear why this basic issue doesn’t get addressed during campaigns. We often hear about it as it relates to the Supreme Court, as to some of the issues (mostly social) that the highest court in the land resolves. We never hear about it as to every other federal court that isn’t the Supreme Court, or as to the impact of the outcome of the election on the ability of the average person to obtain justice against the rich and powerful.
None of it will matter to the outcome of the upcoming election. But if/when someone seeking justice against a large business has the courthouse door slammed in his or her face, how they voted in this or any presidential election won’t change the fact that the door has slammed in his or her face.
One last point. At a time when many are celebrating the fact that the Commanders have turned the page from the dark years of Daniel Snyder to the new beginning under Josh Harris, the effort to force four fans who were injured at the team’s stadium is a lingering blemish on the franchise. Harris, with a snap of his fingers, could withdraw the effort to force these four people to arbitration.
If he’s truly different from Snyder, Harris will do it. Today. Every day that he doesn’t underscores the reality that, in many respects, the new boss is the same as the old boss.
Running back Travis Etienne has missed the last two games, but he’s nearing a return to action.
Head coach Doug Pederson told reporters at a Wednesday press conference that he “feels good” about Etienne returning to action against the Eagles this Sunday. The Jaguars will practice later in the day and Etienne was able to practice on a limited basis before being ruled out last week.
Etienne’s name has come up in trade chatter and the Jaguars pulled off a deal involving left tackle Cam Robinson on Tuesday, so his return to action might also serve as a chance to showcase him for other clubs.
Etienne has 56 carries for 230 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Last year, things started great for the Eagles and then finished horribly. After the team’s third straight win, which moved the Eagles to 5-2 in 2024, I asked quarterback Jalen Hurts whether last year has been forgotten.
“Absolutely, absolutely,” he said. “I think that’s where we are, and I think my goal is to keep it where it is. We got a lot of opportunity in front of us. We got a new team, it’s a new year and we’re trying to build a new energy for ourselves and I think we’ve done that. And I think there are time where I’m not going to be naïve and tell you that I don’t look back and say I’m going to learn from this moment and maybe I felt this feeling once before, how do I navigate this?. And so that’s where we are and that’s where I am. It’s about being wise in our decision making and ultimately stand together as a football team.”
Does this mean that, while forgetting the outcome to 2023, the moments that fueled the adversity are remembered?
“Well, I’ll tell you this, a fool isn’t a fool because they made a mistake, a fool is a fool because they refuse to learn from it and I’m going to learn,” Hurts said. “I’ve always prided myself on learning from my mistakes, learning from my experiences, good bad or indifferent. And I think our season last year from my vantage point is something I’ve learned a ton from and I think it’s benefited us now and I think we will continue to benefit from that.”
After a 2-2 start, the Eagles are starting to stack up wins. They can get to 6-2 on Sunday against the Jaguars. After that, the schedule gets very interesting, with a Sunday-to-Thursday Cowboys-to-Commanders turnaround.
The Eagles are on a three-game winning streak that has featured their best stretch of offensive play of the season, which leaves the team with some decisions to make as they head into next Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Do they stand pat with a team that has found its form or do they make moves to try to take another jump in the race for playoff position in the NFC?
Head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about the team’s approach to the deadline during his Monday press conference. Sirianni staked out a middle ground when it comes to both liking the current roster and trusting General Manager Howie Roseman to consider all options to make it even better.
“Yeah, I love the team that we have,” Sirianni said, via a transcript from the team. “And I think this team is really coming together. With that being said, I know we’re always looking for ways to improve our team. I know Howie is the best at that — of always, always, always, looking at ways he can improve the football team. I admire that and value that of how he goes to work there. But like I said, love the guys that we have. I think we’re coming together really nicely as a team. But we’ll see how this next week plays out.”
The Eagles picked up safety Kevin Byard before the deadline last year and they traded for edge rusher Robert Quinn in 2022, but neither deal wound up making a significant difference in the team’s results over the rest of the campaign.
The Eagles got three touchdowns from quarterback Jalen Hurts and they now have a three-game winning streak as a result.
Hurts scored on a pair of tush pushes from the 1-yard-line and had a seven-yard scramble into the end zone as the Eagles went from trailing the Bengals 10-3 in the first half to a 37-17 win. They scored on five straight possessions after a second quarter punt and leave Cincinnati with a 5-2 record on the season.
Hurts also hit DeVonta Smith with a 45-yard bomb for a score and the Eagles offense clicked in all phases of the game. Saquon Barkley had 22 carries for 108 yards, Smith had six catches and fellow wideout A.J. Brown had five against a Bengals secondary that struggled against the talented duo throughout the second half.
Joe Burrow got the Bengals off to a strong start with a pair of long scoring drives and the game was 17-17 after Chase Brown’s touchdown run in the third quarter, but they failed to convert a fourth down and then turned the ball over on back-to-back drives to kill any hopes of pulling out a win. Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson got an interception after cornerback Isaiah Rodgers broke up a pass intended for Ja’Marr Chase, linebacker Zack Baun knocked the ball away from tight end Mike Gesicki for a fumble that was recovered by Nakobe Dean and rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean stopped Chase cold to force the turnover on downs.
The loss drops the Bengals to 3-5 and leaves them with little margin for error as they try to make it to the postseason. They’ll be home for the Raiders next weekend and will need a win in that one before heading on the road for the Ravens and Chargers ahead of their Week 12 bye.
The Eagles, who will be in first place if the Commanders lose to the Bears on Sunday, will try to keep the win streak going against the Jaguars at home next week.
The Bengals and Eagles combined to score two touchdowns in the first half of Sunday’s game, but they have already posted three in the third quarter.
The most recent one came on a 45-yard strike from quarterback Jalen Hurts to wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Smith’s score put the Eagles up 24-17 with just under three minutes left in the third.
Smith only had one catch for a loss of yardage last week, but he has four catches for 69 yards on Sunday. A.J. Brown has four catches for 78 yards and Hurts has a pair of touchdown runs.
In less positive news for the Eagles, cornerback Darius Slay is questionable to return with a groin inury.
Hurts’s second score came on the first drive of the second half and Bengals running back Chase Brown tied the score back up at the end of the Bengals’ first possession. The home team is going to need to do more than match scores to win this one, however.
The Bengals started faster than the Eagles, but the NFC East team finished strong and Sunday’s game in Cincinnati is all tied up at halftime.
Jalen Hurts was pushed into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown with seconds to play in the first half and the Eagles lined up to go for two after the score. They called timeout after failing to draw the Bengals offside, however, and they wound up kicking an extra point to make it 10-10.
Hurts has seven carries for 29 yards and he’s 7-of-11 for 86 yards through the air. Three of those completions netted 55 yards for wide receiver A.J. Brown and Saquon Barkley has nine carries for 35 yards.
The Bengals ate up more than 10 minutes on their game-opening touchdown drive and used 11 plays to tack on a field goal, but their third possession stalled for a 54-yard field goal try that Evan McPherson missed. Joe Burrow is 16-of-24 for 169 yards, but the Eagles will have the ball first in the third quarter so he may be playing from behind in the second half.
