Eagles Bring Back Wide Receiver Shelton Gibson
The Eagles signed one of their former wide receivers to help add some depth at the position, ahead of their playoff game on Sunday with Seattle. In a corresponding move, the team placed starting right guard Brandon Brooks on injured reserve, after he separated his right shoulder in the win over the Giants, which will require surgery.
Shelton Gibson, a 24-year-old free agent who last played in the NFL for the Eagles earlier this season during training camp and was signed to the Browns practice squad. Gibson appeared in 15 games last year, primarily playing special teams.
"We know him," Eagles head coach Doug Pederson explained. "He definitely gives us, again, depth at the receiver spot. He's a core [special] teams player for us as well."
Gibson was a fifth-round draft pick of the Eagles in 2017, and he spent his first two seasons with Philadelphia before being released before the 2019 season. He appeared in just 20 total games in two years with the Eagles, catching three total passes for 59 combined in 2017 and 2018.
As for replacing Brooks, Pederson laid out a few potential options for Sunday.
"If Lane Johnson can work in and play, then Big V, can work in at right guard. If Lane can’t then obviously we could put Matt Pryor in, who played the other night, and keep Big V at tackle. And then, [C/G Nate] Herbig could obviously get some reps over there if need be throughout the course of the week. So we have some scenarios, some things we have to look at starting in practice this morning."
Pryor played last week in Brooks absence, and handled the position admirably, and had gotten better with each and every opportunity since he's arrived in 2018 as a sixth-round pick from TCU.
"I think the more he gets out there – he’s a big, physical, powerful guy that is really – and he’s a guy too that has to kind of focus on his fundamentals and be in the right places."