Eagles’ Bryce Huff undergoing wrist surgery Thursday originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff will undergo a procedure on his wrist on Thursday, league sources told NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Huff, 26, has been playing with a hard cast on his wrist for the past few weeks.
By having the surgery done now, we hope that Huff can return healthier sometime later in the 2024 season.
“He’s been working his way through really well, but this will hopefully help him get some more functionality in that hand and we’ll see as the season goes on,” head coach Nick Sirianni said Wednesday afternoon. “I just can’t say enough about how he fought through it and tried to keep pushing through it. Hopefully this will help him.”
Over the past three weeks, Huff has played just 6, 12 and 14 snaps. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has said the dip in playing time is a direct result of Huff’s health.
“He has a large cast on his hand, which completely immobilizes his thumb,” Fangio said on November 12. “And basically his palm is immobilized. So he just has four fingers dangling there, with no thumb or palm to help him. As for the less obvious negatives, it just makes sense to put a guy in there who is 100 percent.
It seems likely that Huff will land on Injured Reserve, which will open up a spot on the 53-man roster.
The Eagles signed Huff to a three-year deal worth $51.1 million this offseason. He was their highest-paid free agent, but things didn’t exactly go to plan. While Huff has had some good moments, he has just 2 1/2 sacks in 10 games and was overtaken by Nolan Smith for the starting gig opposite Josh Sweat.
Without Huff, the Eagles will continue to rely on Sweat, Smith and Brandon Graham. There’s also a good chance that Jalyx Hunt will see a bigger role in the third round. Hunt has played just 42 defensive snaps all season.
With Bryce Huff missing time, rookie Jalyx Hunt could take on a bigger role.
“We obviously drafted Jalyx because we liked his skills,” Sirianni said. “Jalyx has done a lot of good things on special teams. We’ll see how those reps are distributed. This week will tell a lot.”
The Eagles’ leaders in sacks from the edge rusher position this season are Sweat with 6 and Smith with 3 1/2. Graham has 2 1/2 sacks and is already playing well at age 36.
Huff came to the NFL from Memphis in 2020 as an undrafted player. He spent four seasons with the Jets playing a role as a pass rush specialist and even had 10 sacks in 2023 without starting a single game. The Eagles projected Huff as a full-time starter on their defense, but it was a big adjustment for Huff in training camp.
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