Thursday, October 1, 2026
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73 ° Clear
The Philadelphia Eagles could very well be without Jonathan Greenard come Week 1.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who tells it like it is, did not mince his words when sharing an update on the $100 million free agent signee.
“I don’t know when Greenard will be back,” Fangio said to the media prior to Wednesday’s first joint practice with the New England Patriots. “That injury he got in our weight room is going to take some time to heal.”
When asked if he is worried about his top pass rusher missing the start of the season, Fangio simply replied, “Yeah.”
Greenard suffered a pectoral injury before the start of training camp and has been held out for three weeks. That duration seemingly will continue to increase due to the nature of his injury.
With a little over three weeks until the season opener on September 13, the Eagles could be faced with a tough decision on how to handle Greenard when it comes to roster construction.
Do they keep him on the 53-man roster after breaking camp hoping that their new pass rusher will be ready at some point during the first month of the campaign? Or do they keep him on the PUP list which would automatically have the 29-year-old sit out the first four weeks of the season, but will open up a roster spot in the meantime.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they have others on the defense that can fill the void for the time missed by Greenard. Jalyx Hunt leads the way in that category, looking to build off his breakout 2025 season where he became the first player in team history to lead the Eagles in both sacks and interceptions. Nolan Smith is playing in what some view a “prove it” year and looks to prove he can return to his 2024 form where he racked up a career-high 6.5 sacks in the regular season and four more on the way to the team’s Super Bowl victory.
The second wave behind Hunt and Smith in Arnold Ebiketie and A.J. Epenesa provides a higher ceiling than the duo of last year between Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche. Ebiketie, a former second-round pick was a third down specialist with Atlanta while Epenesa was a solid rotational linebacker for the Buffalo Bills racking up 24 career sacks through his six seasons in Buffalo. As long as Greenard is sidelined, both Ebiketie and Epenesa will have an increased role to start the season.
“I'm very happy with Nolan and Jalyx,” Fangio said. “AK is coming along. The other guys are coming along, but we need our third and fourth until Greenard gets back to really solidify their positions.”
Last season, the pass rush was below league average in key metrics including sacks, sack rate and pressure rate prior to trading for Jaelan Phillips. Howie Roseman made the deal for Greenard during this year’s draft in hopes that the unit doesn’t get off to another sluggish start to the season.
Greenard potentially missing Week 1 and beyond certainly was not in the preseason plans for the front office and coaching staff. However, the Eagles are positioned better this season to withstand an extended in-season absence from their top pass rusher compared to a year ago.
