Eagles TE Dallas Goedert expected to be sidelined with a knee injury

For a second time this season, Dallas Goedert is expected to be sidelined for the short term.

The 29-year-old tight end sustained a knee injury on Sunday in the Eagles’ 24-19 victory over the Baltimore Ravens and is considered week-to-week, an NFL source told The Inquirer. The injury isn’t considered to be season-ending. Goedert could be a candidate to go on injured reserve, which would require him to miss at least four of the five remaining regular-season games.

He appeared to sustain the injury early in the fourth quarter while attempting to cut block Ravens outside linebacker Tavius Robinson on a Saquon Barkley 14-yard run. Goedert exited the game and did not return to action. The 6-foot-5, 256-pound tight end finished the night with three receptions for 35 yards and a touchdown, his second of the season.

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This isn’t Goedert’s first brush with injury in his seven-year career. Starting in late October, Goedert was sidelined for a three-week stint after suffering a hamstring ailment in a Week 6 game against the Cleveland Browns. Last season, Goedert missed three games due to a fractured forearm. In 2022, Goedert spent five contests on injured reserve while dealing with a shoulder injury.

While the Eagles have struggled to adequately replace Goedert in the past, this season has been different due to their trust in Grant Calcaterra as a receiver. The Eagles leaned on the second-string tight end in the absence of Goedert earlier this year and targeted him at a relatively high rate in the passing game.

Calcaterra, the 2022 sixth-round pick out of Southern Methodist, had 13 receptions on 13 targets for 160 yards while Goedert was down for roughly four games. That included the Browns game, in which Goedert got hurt on the third play of the day.

Through 12 games (eight starts) this season, the 25-year-old tight end boasts 17 receptions for 216 yards on 498 snaps (61%), a substantial increase over his previous season-high total of five receptions for 81 yards on 227 snaps (22%) in his rookie year. Because of Calcaterra’s demonstrated proficiency as a receiver, Nick Sirianni said on Monday the Eagles offense is able to maintain a more expansive playbook.

“I think last year, if you go back to last year if Dallas missed a little bit of time last year, you didn’t see some production from the tight ends,” Sirianni said. “We kind of spread that around a little bit. Gave A.J. [Brown] a couple more touches. Gave DeVonta [Smith] a couple more touches. Put four wide [receivers] into the game a little bit more.

“And I think what Grant’s done is just giving everybody the confidence in him that you can stay [in] 11 personnel [one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers]. You can still keep those plays in for Grant, ‘cause he can contribute.”

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With Goedert injured again, the Eagles will also look to their tight end room depth to step up and contribute, particularly in the run-blocking game. C.J. Uzomah was called up from the practice squad for a third time on Sunday. The 31-year-old played 20 offensive snaps (36%), including 15 run-blocking snaps. If the Eagles want Uzomah active on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, they will need to sign him to the active roster. He has exhausted his three practice-squad elevations.

The same applies to E.J. Jenkins, the 2023 undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who has also been a game-day elevation three times this season. Sirianni attributed the continued growth of the depth tight ends to their position coach, Jason Michael, and their collective support of each other.

“I love that room,” Sirianni said. “That room really cares about helping each other get better. That’s a great room of teammates right there with Dallas, with Grant, and with C.J. and with E.J. They push each other hard and they’re their biggest fans in that room as they make plays. It’s cool to see.”

The Eagles waived Parris Campbell on Monday. The 27-year-old wide receiver was signed to the active roster on Saturday with Smith’s status in question against the Ravens.

Campbell played 28 offensive snaps (50%) and was targeted once on Sunday. He had spent most of the season on the practice squad, but he was briefly on the active roster for two games in October after he ran out of elevations.

He was later released and re-signed to the practice squad. Campbell has appeared in five games this season, posting six receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown.

The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane contributed to this article.