Wednesday Injury Report: Johnson, Maddox Limited, Hopes For Full Roster

As the NFC Championship Game draws nearer, one thing that this Eagles team is looking forward to is a mostly healthy team.

According to the NFL’s official injury report released Wednesday evening, the Eagles did not practice today. Therefore, the Birds’ injury report can be taken with a grain of salt, as it’s a best guess as to what their statuses would’ve been. Tackle Lane Johnson and Cornerback Avonte Maddox were both listed on the report as limited participants in practice.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni said that Johnson’s status was day to day, but that he seemed healthy to the coaching staff coming out of Saturday’s game against the Giants.

“I’m sure he was sore coming out of it,” he remarked, “but we’re excited that he’s back, because he’s one the best offensive tackles, if not the best offensive tackle.”

Lane Johnson’s presence on field is noticeable. In 972 snaps over the 2022 season, Johnson allowed zero sacks on the quarterback. In fact, he hasn’t allowed a sack since Week 11 of 2020.

When it came to Maddox, Sirianni expressed a similar sentiment.

“We’re expecting everybody to be doing stuff,” he said. “We’re hopeful that they’re going to be ready to go, but we’ll take it one day at a time.”

The light injury report is a welcome sight for Eagles fans. The last time the Eagles made the conference championship game, when they stomped the Vikings, the list of inactive players was many names long. It doesn’t look like this will be the case for Sunday afternoon’s game.

Meanwhile, on the 49ers side of the football, the list was peppered with names. Quarterback Jimmy Garroppolo (foot) and Running Backs Christian McCaffrey (calf) and Elijah Mitchell (groin) were listed as nonparticipants in practice, as was Tackle Trent Williams, who was rested by the team. Meanwhile, three others, including Wide Receiver Deebo Samuel (ankle), were listed as limited.

49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan told media on Monday that he is also taking these players day to day.

“We’re expecting to get them all back for Sunday, but we’ll see how it goes through the week with practice and everything,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll go well and that’ll get them ready for Sunday.”

Both teams will need as much of an advantage as possible as this game is a highly-anticipated matchup. The last time these two teams met, early in the 2021-22 season, the 49ers beat the Eagles 17-11. Eagles Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen noted on Tuesday that, when watching film from that game, the team has definitely grown since then.

“We as a team being together, we’ve grown as a team, just like fundamentally,” he said, “looking at little things that like I’m like, “‘Oh, shoot, we’ve done that better this year.’ So, I think just within the scheme of what we’re doing, the repetitions of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and how we’re teaching it.”

Featured Photo: Lane Johnson smiles during training camp. (Getty Images/Michael Leff)