The Eagles lost a key member of their defense to an injury early in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Saints.
Defensive end Josh Sweat stayed down after making a tackle at the end of a third down conversion by Saints fullback Adam Prentice and was attended to by medical personnel on the field for several minutes.
The entire Eagles team gathered around him and he was eventually carted back to the locker room. Sweat appeared to suffer a neck or head injury while making the tackle, but no announcement has been made by the team yet.
Sweat had 47 tackles, 11 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in the first 15 games of the season. He would be a major loss to the defense in the playoffs.
The injury happened on the opening possession of the game. The Saints moved easily down the field and the Prentice run was their third third-down conversion of the drive.
Their luck ran out on the next attempt as Taysom Hill was stopped short of the first down on third down, but he got eight yards on fourth down and then put the Saints up 7-0 with a one-yard touchdown run one play later.
UPDATE: 1:36 p.m. ET: The Eagles announced Sweat has been taken to the hospital with a neck injury. He has movement in all his extremities.