Eagles Veteran Tight End Offers Hope With Dallas Goedert Likely Out

Dallas Goedert has missed games the past few years with injury, and it looks like he will out again for at least Sunday’s game at the New York Giants. Maybe even longer after injuring his hamstring early in last week’s win over the Browns.

Whenever the tight end goes out, the position is usually a wasteland without any productivity in sight, and Goedert has missed several games the past few years.

Last year, he missed three with a broken forearm.

In 2022, he missed five games with a fracture in the glenoid bone in his shoulder.

In 2021, a concussion forced him out for a game.

In 2020, a fractured ankle cost him four games and a calf injury later that year saw him miss another game.

The offense never seems to operate the same without him.

Maybe things will be different this time after what Grant Calcaterra showed after stepping in for Goedert against the Browns. Calcaterra caught a career-high four passes for 67 yards, including a pair of explosive plays of 34 and 20 yards.

So maybe, just maybe the offense that head coach Nick Sirianni always says runs through A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Goedert will now sub Calcaterra into the equation.

“Who knows? I guess we’ll see on Sunday,” said Calcaterra. “I’m always prepared no matter what my role is. If we’re scheming up to get the ball elsewhere, I’m doing my job in that way. If we’re scheming it up to get me the ball, I’ll work my ass off in that way as well.”

Calcaterra played 57 snaps (92 percent) after Goedert left after just three snaps. It’s a workload that will likely continue against the Giants and maybe beyond.

“Grant has just been on the rise since the offseason, OTAs and during training camp,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “At the end of the day, Grant has been everything that we expected as a draft pick when we took him a couple years ago and then some. He keeps getting better. As bummed as I could be if Dallas is out, I’ll be really excited about his opportunity like he got last week.”

Calcaterra joined the Eagles as a sixth-round pick in 2022, so he should be ready to rise to the occasion this time if needed.

Perhaps Jack Stoll will join him or even Albert Okwuegbunam, who had his 21-day practice window opened on Wednesday. Practice squad tight ends C.J. Uzomah, added earlier this week after spending most of training camp with the Eagles, and E.J. Jenkins, who has one more elevation left, could also be in the mix as depth options.

Stoll played 39 snaps against the Browns after rejoining the team that gave him a shot as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He left at the end of the last season to join the Giants as a free agent, but he noticed a different Calcaterra when he returned after the Giants cut him following training camp.

“Same great guy, but he’s developed even more,” said Stoll. “I’ve only seen glimpses of what he could do out there, and it was awesome last week to see him go out there and be able to do that.

“We all knew he’d go out there and make the most of his opportunities. He did an unbelievable job and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do over the next couple of weeks and know he will make the most of it again.”