Eagles' secondary in shambles with explosive Dolphins up next

Mekhi Garner is an undrafted rookie free agent cornerback who’s been on the practice squad since final roster cuts in August.

With the Eagles down a bunch of defensive backs for Sunday’s game – Darius Slay out with a knee injury, Justin Evans on IR with a knee, Sydney Brown out three weeks with a hamstring on top of long-term injuries to Avonte Maddox and Zech McPhearson – Garner was a gameday call-up Sunday in case of emergency.

Not surprisingly, there was an emergency. 

When Reed Blankenship was forced out of the game with a rib injury midway through the third quarter, Garner entered the game at safety.

So he was making his NFL debut. At a position he doesn’t play.

That’s the way it’s gone this year with the Eagles’ secondary.

After Bradley Roby left the game with a shoulder injury and Eli Ricks with a knee, the Eagles were down eight defensive backs.

And it’s Week 6.

The Eagles have already played a league-high 15 defensive backs this year, including six undrafted players in their first or second year, which is already the most in team history with 11 games to play. 

According to Stathead’s player season finder, only five teams in NFL history have ever had an entire season playing more undrafted defensive backs in their first or second season than the Eagles have in six games.

Of the 15 defensive backs the Eagles have played, five – Garner, Ricks, Brown, Mario Goodrich and Kelee Ringo – had never played a defensive snap in the NFL before this year. Josh Jobe had played 12. Tristin McCollum also made his debut earlier this yera but only played on special teams.

Right now, we don’t know the extent of the injuries to Blankenship, Roby, Ricks and Slay. Evans is on IR and not eligible to return for another three weeks. 

The healthy defensive backs on the 53-man roster are James Bradberry, Jobe, Ringo, Terrell Edmunds and Goodrich. Garner, McCollum and Tiawan Mullen are on the practice squad.

Depending what happens with Slay, Blankenship, Ricks and Roby, the Eagles may have to cobble together a starting secondary Sunday from that group.

Bradberry and Jobe would probably be the outside corners, Goodrich the nickel and Edmunds and Garner the safeties?

Oh, and the Eagles are about to face a Dolphins offense with the NFL's No. 1 passing game, No. 1 total offense and No. 1 scoring offense Sunday night.

The good news is that the Eagles believe there’s a good chance Slay will be back. 

But the real issue is that Edmunds – who lost a training camp battle for a starting spot – is the Eagles’ only healthy safety. Maybe Brown will be ready to return Sunday, but he’s a guy who’s only played 16 career snaps on defense and hasn't played in a month. Maybe Blankenship will be able to play, but that was a nasty hit he took to the ribs Sunday. Maybe … the Cards will trade K'Von Wallace back to the Eagles?

No doubt Howie Roseman will be looking for a healthy safety or two, and it might take a trade to land someone who can really help at this point. The Eagles were lucky to find Roby, and he did a great job playing against the Rams four days after arriving here, but those types of guys are hard to find at this point in the season.

Honestly, you have to give a ton of credit to Sean Desai and rookie secondary coach D.K. McDonald for the job they’ve done navigating through all these injuries, roster permutations, practice squad call-ups and revolving door lineups.

Despite all of it – and every starting defensive back on the team has missed at least one game already – the Eagles have the No. 9 defense in the NFL and they’re allowing the 8^th-fewest yards per pass attempt. Incredibly, they’ve only allowed one TD pass of 25 yards or more, tied for fewest in the league.

And that's without a single defensive back playing defensive snaps in all six games.

We’ll see Wednesday who’s practicing and who’s not and we’ll start to get a sense of who might be available Sunday night when Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Raheem Mostert and Co. come to town.

The Dolphins are averaging 499 yards per game, 2^nd-highest in NFL history through six games behind Kurt Warner and the 2000 Great Show on Earth Rams, and 37.2 points per game, 7^th-highest in NFL history through six games.

This would be a monumental challenge even at full strength. And the Eagles won’t be anywhere close to full strength.