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Tim McManus, ESPN Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles placed slot cornerback Avonte Maddox on injured reserve Wednesday after follow-up tests confirmed a torn pectoral muscle.
“Listen, are we going to miss Avonte? Of course, we are,” coach Nick Sirianni said Monday. “He’s a great football player who has made a lot of plays here. I thought he was playing really good football, really being aggressive … So, we’ll miss his contributions as a teammate and on the field, but we like some of our options.”
Maddox exited the game in the second quarter of Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, favoring his left arm as he walked off the field. He was replaced by Mario Goodrich, a 2022 undrafted free agent out of Clemson.
“He got thrown into the fire there unexpectedly I’m sure for him,” said defensive coordinator Sean Desai. “But that’s a great lesson for everybody is to always be prepared, to have that next man up mentality, and I thought he got better as the game progressed.”
With the slot corner position relatively thin, the Eagles experimented with moving veteran All-Pro James Bradberry inside during the summer. Bradberry sat out of Thursday’s game with a concussion. The nickel corner position will be an area of focus in Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Bucs with standout receiver Mike Evans frequently lining up in the slot.
Maddox, 27, has four career interceptions over five-plus seasons to go with 31 passes defensed. He has dealt with a number of injuries of late, including toe, ankle and hamstring injuries that limited him to nine games last season.
In other roster moves, the Eagles signed receiver/punt returner Britain Covey to the active roster and signed running back Bryant Koback to the practice squad.
