The Eagles will be without their top two linebackers when they play the Giants on Christmas Day.
Zach Cunningham was sidelined with a knee injury on Saturday, missing his second straight game. Nicolas Morrow (abdominal) also missed this game after missing practice all week. He only came on Mondays for a limited time.
Morrow trained during pregame warmups but was unable to compete.
The Eagles’ top linebackers in this game will be midseason addition Shaq Leonard and undrafted rookie Ben VanSmeren. However, the Eagles promoted Brandon Smith from the practice squad during this week’s practice and started Patrick Johnson as an off-ball linebacker.
Here is the complete list of Eagles inactive players for this game:
CB Darius Slay (knee)
LB Zach Cunningham (knee)
LB Nicholas Morrow (abdominal)
LG Landon Dickerson (thumb)
QB Tanner McKee
RB Rashard Penny
TE Albert Okwuegbunam
The Eagles had three players ruled out on Saturday. Darius Slay underwent arthroscopic knee surgery a few weeks ago and will miss his second straight game. Slay, 32, confirmed Friday that he plans to return soon. If he’s not available on Monday, rookie Kelly Ringo is expected to start and rotate with Eli Ricks opposite James Bradberry.
Last week, Dickerson underwent surgery on his thumb. Like Slay, Dickerson will not be placed on IR and is expected to return for the playoffs. The Eagles are expected to start in his place with veteran Sua Opeta, who played right guard last week under Cam Jurgens. Jurgens (pectoral muscle) will return from absence.
Two players the Eagles promoted for this game, LB Brandon Smith and DB Tristin McCollum, were both active in this game. This is the second of three possible promotions for McCollum from the practice squad. Smith will make his Eagles debut in this game. A fourth-round pick out of Penn State, he played in 12 games with the Panthers in 2022, starting one of them.