Eagles roster move announced ahead of Chiefs game
The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced one roster move ahead of their Week 11 road game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
LB Ben VanSumeren was temporarily elevated from the practice squad.
Note: Practice squad players can be temporarily promoted to the roster up to three times per season before they’re required to be exposed to waivers. This is the second elevation for VanSumeren
BEN VANSUMEREN
The Eagles are elevating BVS for their second straight game.
His presence serves the Eagles two-fold:
- BVS provides help on special teams. The undrafted rookie free agent logged 10 ST snaps (42%) in his NFL debut back in Week 9.
- BVS provides emergency depth at off-ball linebacker. With Nakobe Dean placed on injured reserve, the Eagles only had three healthy players at his position: Zach Cunningham, Nicholas Morrow, and Christian Elliss. The Eagles will hope to not have to play BVS on defense but he’s around if the situation gets desperate.
DALLAS GOEDERT
It’s worth noting that Goedert was NOT placed on injured reserve prior to the Eagles-Chiefs game.
Had that been the case, the team’s top tight end would’ve automatically missed at least the following four games:
Week 11 at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 12 vs. Buffalo Bills
Week 13 vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 14 at Dallas Cowboys
By keeping Goedert on the active roster, however, the Eagles are signaling that they hope he can return from his fractured forearm in Week 14 (if not sooner).
And so Goedert avoiding IR is encouraging development. The quicker the Eagles can get him back healthy, the better.
READ MORE:
Week 12 Injured Reserve Return Tracker
After a 2022 rule change, teams can activate up to eight players from injured reserve. That has reintroduced some strategy into how franchises proceed with their activations, and teams will again need to be cognizant of their activation counts in 2023.
The NFL had reintroduced IR-return options in the 2010s, after a period in which an IR move meant a player’s season was over. But the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the league to loosen restrictions on IR from 2020-21. Teams were permitted to use unlimited activations to start the decade, but roster math is again a consideration.
Players who land on IR after cutdown day must miss at least four games. Once a team designates a player for return, the activation clock starts. Clubs have 21 days from a player’s return-to-practice date to activate that player. If no activation commences in that window, the player reverts to season-ending IR.
Here is how the NFL’s IR situations look for Week 12:
