The Philadelphia Eagles, instead of finishing with the best record in the NFC and therefore earning themselves a first-round playoff bye, now find themselves in a dogfight against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL Wild Card round. And to make matters worse, they just lost one of their biggest receiving weapons to injury after Julio Jones was officially ruled out for the rest of the contest due to concussion worries, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.
During the second quarter, with the Eagles down 16-3 and the ball in Jalen Hurts' hands at 2nd and 11, Philadelphia came up with a huge play, with Hurts connecting with the veteran wide receiver on a downfield pass. However, right after Jones' catch, he immediately became the recipient of a huge shoulder charge from Buccaneers cornerback Zyon McCollum.
Julio Jones wasn't directly hit on the head. But McCollum's hit knocked Jones off his stride, causing his head to violently whip back. After the tackle, Jones was a bit slow to get up, clearly dazed, with Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata having to hold him up, giving him a chance to stay in the game had he been physically cleared to do so.
Julio Jones is being evaluated for a #concussion after this hit.
If they somehow clear him, credit his teammate for holding him up at the end of this clip so he doesn't fall over, which could have been seen as "ataxia" and ensured he would not return. pic.twitter.com/Ie96rmRjoj
— Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. (@ChrisNowinski1) January 16, 2024
It has been a struggle for the Eagles for the past six weeks, as they have won just one game during that span, limping into the postseason with an 11-6 record after such a strong start to the season had them in line to skip the first round of the playoffs altogether.
Julio Jones hasn't featured much for the Eagles in 2023 after the team picked him up back in October, averaging just 1.7 targets across 11 games of play in the regular season. But with the Eagles trying to come up with solutions to their ailing offense, Philly decided to utilize Jones more often against the Buccaneers, with the 34-year old receiver tallying 22 yards on three receptions before leaving the game.
With Jones out and the Eagles' backs against the wall, the onus to avoid further embarrassment will fall on the shoulders of Jalen Hurts, while DeVonta Smith should be getting as many targets as he can after he has put up 107 yards in just five receptions to this point of the contest against the Buccaneers.
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