The Philadelphia Eagles opened Saturday with a disappointing roster update for one of their highest-profile rookies. The club placed tight end Eli Stowers on injured reserve with quadriceps and hamstring injuries, via the NFL transaction log.
The move will keep the 2026 second-round pick off the field for at least four games and likely longer as the team evaluates how quickly the lower-body issues settle.
In a related transaction, Philadelphia elevated veteran wide receiver Britain Covey from the practice squad to the active roster.
Stowers arrived in Philadelphia with unusual pedigree and unusual unfinished business. A four-star prospect out of Denton, Texas, he was ranked among the top quarterbacks in the 2021 recruiting class before committing to Texas A&M.
Two seasons in College Station were followed by a year at New Mexico State and then two productive years at Vanderbilt, where the former high school passer completed his conversion to tight end.
Over 45 college games, he caught 146 passes for 1,773 yards and 11 touchdowns, added a modest rushing total, and even completed a handful of trick-play throws. His final season produced career highs, first-team All-America honors, the John Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end, and the William V. Campbell Trophy for scholar-athlete excellence.
The Eagles used the 54th overall pick on him and projected a four-year rookie contract worth just under $8.9 million, including a signing bonus of nearly $2.93 million.
That investment was always going to require patience. Stowers is listed around 6-foot-3 and 239 pounds, athletic enough to post a combine-record 45.5-inch vertical and an 11-foot-3 broad jump, but still relatively new to the blocking and route-running demands of the position.
Training camp was quiet. A late preseason hamstring issue already limited him. He appeared in two exhibitions for three catches and 12 yards and entered the regular season as the third tight end behind Dallas Goedert and Johnny Mundt.
The added quadriceps problem has now pushed the timeline further back. For a rookie still learning the position, missing the first month of real games is a setback even if the long-term athletic profile remains intact.
Covey’s promotion is a familiar one. The 5-foot-8 Utah product and Super Bowl LIX champion has spent most of his career bouncing between the Eagles’ practice squad and active roster as a returner and extra receiver.
Elevating him gives Philadelphia another trusted special-teams piece while the tight-end room absorbs Stowers’ absence. The Eagles can still count on Goedert as the primary pass-catching tight end; the question is how much development Stowers loses while he sits.
Injured reserve is not a career verdict, but for a converted quarterback still building NFL habits, every week of live practice matters. Philadelphia will hope the quadriceps and hamstring calm quickly enough that the 22-year-old can still contribute later in 2026 rather than watching the entire season from the sideline.
