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Josh Sweat

Latest On Eagles DE Josh Sweat

January 4th, 2023 at 9:29pm CST by Ben Levine

Despite a scary incident last weekend that saw Josh Sweat transported to the hospital with a neck injury, the Eagles defensive end may not miss much time. During the “Inside The Birds” podcast, Adam Caplan said the defensive end could be back for Philly’s first playoff game.

“What we have heard is that the first playoff game is absolutely in play as of now,” Caplan said (via InsideTheBirds.com). “He’s just super sore. They’ll know in a series of days how he really feels. Everything checked out well.”

Naturally, coach Nick Sirianni was quick to note that the Eagles will operate with caution when it comes to Sweat’s return to the field. However, Sweat himself already added some optimism regarding his return when he tweeted that he’ll “be back this season.”

“We’ll take Josh one day at a time,” Sirianni said (via the team’s website). “I’m just really thankful that it wasn’t more serious there and I know everybody in that stadium was holding their breath because anytime that stretcher comes out, that’s tough to deal with. Josh was saying, ‘Hey, let me get up. I can get up.’ The doctors in that scenario have to make sure they go through all the right scenarios. I felt a little more at ease because of what Josh was saying out there.”

Sweat was carted off the field during the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to New Orleans following a headfirst collision into Saints fullback Adam Prentice. Sweat was on the ground for several minutes before being positioned onto a stretcher and carted off the field. He was later transported to the hospital before being released on Sunday, with the team reporting that Sweat had movement in all of his extremities.

The 25-year-old is less than one calendar year removed from a life-threatening medical condition which emerged during the postseason and forced him to miss Philadelphia’s first-round matchup with Tampa Bay. He’s returned to have a career year for the Eagles, collecting career-highs in sacks (11), QB hits (23), and TFLs (15).

Eagles DE Josh Sweat Suffers Neck Injury

January 1st, 2023 at 4:57pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Eagles once again failed to lock up the top spot in the NFC today, and they are facing injury questions with another key player. Defensive end Josh Sweat was unavailable for much of the contest against the Saints due to a neck injury which required him to be taken to hospital.

Sweat suffered the injury while making a tackle on New Orleans fullback Adam Prentice, but was motionless on the field immediately after the play and for several minutes afterward. ESPN’s Tim McManus notes that Sweat was carted off the field and taken to hospital as a result of the injury. Not long after he arrived, a team announcement indicated that he had movement in all of his extremities.

The hospital evaluation was deemed precautionary, the Eagles also stated. Per the latest update, he will be released later tonight, an encouraging sign for Sweat. The 25-year-old is less than one calendar year removed from a life-threatening medical condition which emerged during the postseason and forced him to miss Philadelphia’s first-round matchup with Tampa Bay.

Sweat managed one sack before having to exit the loss to the Saints, and the Eagles totaled seven on the day. Philadelphia led the league in that department entering Week 17, in no small part due to the former fourth-rounder’s contributions. He had posted a career-high 11 sacks before today, which saw him record at least one for the sixth consecutive game. Sweat has also set new personal marks in tackles for loss (15) and quarterback hits (23).

That continues to represent a sold return on investment for the Eagles, given the three-year extension they signed him to last fall. The Florida State alum was named a Pro Bowler for the first time in 2021, and has once again been a full-time starter on the edge after operating in a rotational role for his first three seasons in the league. Philadelphia would sorely miss his production if he were to miss next week’s regular season finale (a game which, given this afternoon’s events, still has meaning for the NFC leaders) or any playoff action. Further updates will be worth watching for given his importance to the Eagles as they prepare for a potential Super Bowl run.

Eagles DE Josh Sweat Had Life-Threatening Medical Situation

January 16th, 2022 at 11:12am CST by Rory Parks

Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat will miss the club’s wildcard game against the Bucs this afternoon. Per a team statement, Sweat was dealing with a life-threatening medical situation earlier this week, and while he is on the mend and was hoping to play, he has not yet recovered quite enough to return to game action.

The statement reads as follows:

“On Tuesday night, Josh Sweat was admitted to the hospital. He underwent an emergency procedure due to the severity. The doctors addressed a life-threatening situation. In the following days, Josh and our medical team did everything possible to help him return. He improved every day but it was determined by the doctors today that he was not quite ready. The fact that Josh came so close to playing is a credit to his toughness and our medical staff.”

It’s unclear exactly what the emergency was, but Adam Schefter of ESPN.com notes that head coach Nick Sirianni said during the week that Sweat was dealing with an abdominal issue (Twitter link). Obviously, Sweat’s health is the most important thing here, but his presence will be sorely missed against Tampa Bay’s stout offensive front, and it will make it even more difficult for the underdog Eagles to pull off the upset.

Philadelphia handed Sweat a lucrative extension back in September, and he rewarded the club with a season that saw him post career-highs in starts (13), tackles (45), and sacks (7.5). He finished as Pro Football Focus’ 23rd-best edge defender out of 113 qualifiers.

If the Eagles are able to advance to the divisional round, it sounds like Sweat would have a good chance of suiting up.

Eagles DE Josh Sweat Signs Three-Year Extension

September 18th, 2021 at 10:28am CST by Ben Levine

For the second-straight week, the Eagles have extended a member of their 2018 draft class. The team announced this morning (via Twitter) that they’ve agreed to a three-year extension with defensive end Josh Sweat.

[RELATED: Eagles Sign LT Jordan Mailata To Four-Year Extension]

The three-year deal is worth $40MM and includes $26.9MM in guaranteed money, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Sweat received a $10MM signing bonus as part of the deal, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). The deal contains $2MM in incentives “based on consecutive years of 7 sacks,” boosting the maximum value to $42MM (per Rapoport). The extension will keep the 24-year-old in Philly through at least the 2024 season.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk adds some additional details, reporting that Sweat will earn base salaries of $920K, $1.035MM, $12MM, and $13.75MM over the life of the deal from 2021-24. In addition to the $10MM signing bonus, the first two years of salary are fully guaranteed at signing, as is a $2.965MM option bonus for 2022. $9MM of Sweat’s $12MM salary for 2023 becomes fully guaranteed in March 2022, and the remaining $3MM becomes fully guaranteed in early 2023.

With respect to the sack escalator that Rapoport referenced, Florio says that Sweat can earn an extra $2MM in 2024 by posting at least seven sacks in each of the next three years, nine sacks in two of the next three years, or 11 sacks in any individual year.

Sweat was a fourth-round pick by the Eagles in 2018, and after barely playing during his rookie season, he found a role in Philly over the past two seasons. Sweat appeared in 30 games (three starts) for the Eagles over the past two years, collecting 59 tackles, 10 sacks, 22 QB hits, 16 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles. Those numbers were collected despite the fact that Sweat only played on 35 percent of his team’s defensive snaps in 2019 and 38 percent of the defensive snaps in 2020.

The pass rusher appeared in more than 50 percent of his team’s defensive snaps during their Week 1 win over the Falcons, collecting six total tackles.

Last Saturday, the Eagles agreed to a four-year, $64MM extension with offensive lineman Jordan Mailata, a 2018 seventh-round pick.

Jets Exploring Trade For Pass Rush Help

August 22nd, 2021 at 12:27pm CST by Rory Parks

In the wake of Carl Lawson‘s season-ending Achilles tear, the Jets are on the lookout for pass rushing help, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The club will surely scour the free agent market, which will continue to grow as cuts are made throughout the league, and New York is also exploring trade possibilities.

The loss of Lawson is a significant one for the Jets. The former Bengal inked a three-year, $45MM deal ($30MM guaranteed) in March, and he had performed well in training camp. He notched a modest 5.5 sacks in 2020, but his 32 QB hits were bested only by T.J. Watt, and he appeared primed for a big season in head coach Robert Saleh‘s 4-3 scheme.

Veterans Vinny Curry and Ronald Blair could help fill the void, but Blair has not played since Week 9 of the 2019 season due to an ACL tear and subsequent complications. He is now dealing with a hamstring ailment, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets, while Curry is entering his age-33 season and has been primarily utilized as a rotational piece throughout his career.

Behind Curry and Blair, there is very little by way of proven edge talent, and the Jets failed to generate much pass rush against the Packers’ backup O-line in last night’s preseason victory. So it’s little wonder that the team is taking a look at outside options.

In terms of free agents, players like Everson Griffen and Olivier Vernon are still available, though Vernon’s own health is very much up in the air. The Jets and Eagles will hold joint practices this week, and Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com suggests that two Philadelphia edge defenders, Derek Barnett and Josh Sweat — both of whom are entering their walk years — could be targets for Jets GM and former Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/26/20

December 26th, 2020 at 4:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

  • Promoted: C Javon Patterson

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Eagles Place RB Corey Clement On IR

December 11th, 2018 at 3:50pm CST by Zachary Links

It’s official now. The Eagles have placed running back Corey Clement on injured reserve, according to a team announcement, and defensive end Josh Sweat has also been shut down for the year. To take their places, the Eagles added running back Boston Scott from the Saints’ practice squad and signed defensive end Daeshon Hall.

Clement picked up the slack for Philly in the absence of Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles. Sproles recently returned to action, but the Eagles lost Ajayi for the year thanks to a torn ACL, and they’re still looking for an adequate punch in the backfield. The loss of Clement won’t help matters, but they’ll try to get by with Sproles, Josh Adams, Wendell Smallwood, and Scott for the rest of the season.

Sweat, a fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, flashed serious potential with a 4.53 second 40-yard-dash time at the combine. This year, he was largely buried behind a deep group of defensive linemen, but the Eagles still have high hopes for him going forward.

The Eagles – sans Clement and Sweat – will face the Rams on Sunday night. It’s a tough matchup for sure, but the defending champs may be emboldened by L.A.’s weak performance against the Bears in Week 14.

NFC Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Eagles, Wentz

May 27th, 2018 at 9:48pm CST by Ben Levine

Following the Cowboys’ decision to move on from Dez Bryant, the offense was left with only two wideouts from last year’s roster: Cole Beasley and Terrance Williams. The team did an admirable job of adding Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson via free agency, Tavon Austin via trade, and Michael Gallup via the draft, but none of their options profile as a top-tier wideout.

While the team’s depth chart may be lacking, quarterback Dak Prescott believes the Cowboys’ offense will be just fine.

“I don’t know if any team in the league necessarily needs a No. 1 receiver,” Prescott said (via Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com). “It’s about getting the ball out, spreading the ball around, keeping the defense on its toes.”

Of course, while Prescott is confident in his ability to lead the unheralded offense, he understands that there’s still work to be done.

“I mean the only thing you can do is just get out there with routes on air, things like that,” Prescott said. “We did a bunch together. Me and these young guys have been here before we even started OTAs, getting that timing down so we can get in OTAs and have good feel for each other and now with the defense in front of us, grow off of that and grow from what we’ve already accomplished. That’s the best thing I can do.”

Let’s take a look at some more notes out of the NFC…

  • After having seen several Giants practices, Matt Lombardo of NJ.com opines that 2017 third-round pick Davis Webb has been the team’s most impressive signal-caller. However, the writer emphasizes that there isn’t a quarterback controversy, noting that the team’s offseason moves indicate that the front office wants to make a playoff push with Eli Manning. Still, since the Giants weren’t sold on any of the top quarterback prospects in the draft, Webb has been doing a nice job of making his case to be Manning’s heir apparent.
  • Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com takes an early look at the Eagles projected depth chart. The writer’s opinion of the offensive tackle position is of particular note, as Jason Peters and Lane Johnson are currently slotted in as starters. However, Shorr-Parks wonders if Halapoulivaati Vaitai could take over as the starter for Peters if the veteran doesn’t recover from his major knee surgery. The writer also notes that there will be a battle between Josh Sweat and Steven Means for third-string defensive end reps. If Means earns a spot on the active roster, the Eagles could choose to stash the first-year Sweat on the injured reserve.
  • Carson Wentz participated in the Eagles OTAs this week, and reports indicated that he looked good as recovered from an ACL and LCL tear. Still, while there should be optimism around Wentz’s progress, Dr. David J. Chao of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that it’s too early to “anoint his full return for the season opener.” While the quarterback is on track, he still has plenty of steps to complete until he’s back to full mobility. Wentz will have to focus on running and cutting before he’s ready for regular season action.

Eagles Sign Entire Draft Class

May 9th, 2018 at 4:21pm CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles have wrapped up their entire draft class, the team announced. The following rookies are now officially under contract with the defending champs: 

  • 2-49: Dallas Goedert, TE (South Dakota State)
  • 4-125: Avonte Maddox, CB (Pittsburgh)
  • 4-130: Josh Sweat, DE (Florida State)
  • 6-206: Matt Pryor, T (TCU)
  • 7-233: Jordan Mailata, T (Australia)

Goedert was the Eagles’ top pick in this year’s class after they shipped their No. 32 overall pick and a fourth-round choice (No. 132) to the Ravens for a second-rounder (No. 52), fourth-rounder (No. 125) and a second-round pick in 2019. The Ravens used the final pick in the first round on Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Eagles, meanwhile, moved up from No. 52 to No 49 in a deal with the Cowboys to land Goedert.

Goedert was regarded by some as the best tight end in this year’s class, but South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst (No. 25, Ravens) and Penn State’s Mike Gesicki (No. 42, Dolphins), both went ahead of him. The South Dakota State star is now out to prove that he can dominate at a much higher level of competition. Last year, he tallied 92 receptions for 1,293 yards and eleven touchdowns.

Maddox may have a chance to contribute right off the bat following the departure of cornerback Patrick Robinson. Although he is undersized at 5’9″, evaluators say that he plays with the toughness necessary to succeed in the NFL.

Sweat, meanwhile, offers serious potential with a 4.53 second 40-yard-dash time and a track record of serious pass rushing ability. Although he tallied 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks last year, some teams were warded off by the injuries that sidelined him in high school and in the 2016 season.

Draft Notes: Panthers, Penny, Impact Rooks

May 5th, 2018 at 10:42am CST by Ben Levine

With their first-round pick, the Panthers ended up selecting Maryland wideout D.J. Moore. However, General Manager Marty Hurney told SiriusXM’s Bruce Murray and Brady Quinn that his team was considering several players with the pick, including Alabama receiver Calvin Ridley.

“Basically what we did, coming into the draft, we had a group of about five guys that we would be very happy with at 24 and we got our pick and three of those guys were there and it was a hard decision between Calvin Ridley and D.J. Moore,” Hurney said. “I think that the difference to us is, and we think they’re both excellent wide receivers, is just D.J. Moore gives us a little different skill set than we had.”

Let’s check out some more draft notes from around the league…

  • Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller touched on a number of topics during his post-draft review. Notably, the reporter noted that the most surprising first-round selection was San Diego State running back Rashaad Penny, who was taken by the Seahawks with the 27th pick. Miller notes that opposing teams didn’t value Penny as highly, and the reporter said the highest team grade (outside of Seattle) rated the running back as a second-rounder.
  • Miller reports that several players failed drug tests, causing them to fall in the draft or go undrafted. This grouping included cornerback Holton Hill, offensive tackle Desmond Harrison, and wideout Antonio Callaway.
  • ESPN’s Mel Kiper looked at several late-round rookies who could immediately make an impact with their new squad. Offensively, Kiper pointed to Patriots wideout Braxton Berrios, Colts running backs Jordan Wilkins and Nyheim Hines, and Steelers “Swiss Army knife” Jaylen Samuels. Defensively, Raiders defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, Eagles pass rusher Josh Sweat, Rams linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo led Kiper’s list.
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