The Eagles ruled out outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard for their Week 1 matchup against the Commanders on Sunday.
Greenard, 29, missed all of training camp due to a pectoral strain sustained during offseason weight training. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio voiced concern about his star edge rusher’s availability for the start of the season in mid-August. There was some optimism at the end of the month when Greenard was included on the 53-man roster to open the year – as opposed to landing on the physically unable to perform list – but one week of limited practice was not enough to get him ready for Week 1.
Fangio will instead call upon his other four edge rushers: Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Arnold Ebiketie, and A.J. Epenesa. Smith and Hunt are returning from last year’s squad. The former disappointed with just one sack and three tackles for loss in 12 games; Hunt took advantage of his absence and put together a mini-breakout with 6.5 sacks and nine TFLs.
Neither Epenesa nor Ebiketie had particularly productive 2025 seasons, combining for just 4.5 sacks and seven TFLs. Both signed in Philadelphia this offseason on relatively inexpensive one-year deals in the hopes that a stint in Fangio’s defense would boost their stock next offseason. Greenard’s absence will give them an opportunity to carve out a tertiary role off the edge right away.
Fangio may also use 2025 first-round pick Jihaad Campbell in a more hybrid role. While he is still not seen as a true edge defender, he might be able to take early-down snaps at outside linebacker when the Eagles are in their base defense. Fangio may also get more creative with his blitz packages without his best edge rusher and send Campbell on more blitzes up the middle.
Philadelphia will be hoping that Greenard can get back on the field as quickly as possible, especially after trading two third-round picks for him during the draft. The team also signed him to a two-year, $60MM extension that included $50MM in guaranteed money. That commitment came with the expectation that Greenard would bounce back from his own underwhelming 2025 campaign and return to his double-digit sack production from 2023 and 2024. Unfortunately for both player and club, he will now have one fewer game to do so.
