Thursday's news centers on one team in crisis and one backfield reshuffling. The Eagles account for three of today's four stories, with Jalen Hurts ruled out for Sunday because of a superficial blood clot, forcing Philadelphia to turn to a different starting quarterback against Carolina. That change ripples through the receiving corps and the tight end room alike. Separately, in Houston, David Montgomery will not make the trip to London and is out against Jacksonville with a groin injury, handing Woody Marks an expanded workload for the week.
Jalen Hurts Out With Blood Clot, Eagles Offense in Flux
Jalen Hurts has been ruled out for Sunday's game because of a superficial blood clot. Philadelphia will need a different starting quarterback, and that uncertainty is the single biggest variable hanging over every Eagles skill player this week. Until the team names its starter, projections for the receiving corps and tight end group carry more risk than usual. The honest read is that it is too early to say how much this changes the passing game's shape beyond Sunday — this is a one-week disruption, not a verdict on the offense's season.
Running Backs: Montgomery Out, Marks Gets the Nod in Houston
David Montgomery will not travel to London and is ruled out against the Jaguars with a groin injury. Woody Marks is expected to handle an expanded role in his absence. For fantasy purposes this week, Marks moves into a lead-back usage pattern behind Houston's offensive line, and that bump in opportunity is the headline out of this backfield regardless of how it affects Montgomery's longer-term standing once healthy.
Wide Receivers: Lemon's Role Grows as Smith Sits and Hurts Sits Too
Makai Lemon's outlook improved today, but the reasoning is layered. DeVonta Smith continued to miss practice with a hamstring injury, which on its own would point to more targets for Lemon. But Hurts being ruled out complicates that math — whoever starts at quarterback for Philadelphia, reportedly Tanner McKee, changes the passing rhythm the Eagles have built around Hurts specifically. The fair takeaway is that Lemon's opportunity is real and worth monitoring in a one-week format, but it comes with added variance given the quarterback change, and it should not be read as a lock for a featured role beyond this week.
Tight Ends: Goedert Returns and Immediately Leads the Eagles in Targets
Dallas Goedert came back from a knee injury and immediately led Philadelphia with six catches on nine targets, while DeVonta Smith remained sidelined after missing Wednesday's practice. That workload is notable on its own, and it arrives ahead of a matchup with a Carolina defense that has struggled against tight ends. The counter-argument worth stating plainly: Goedert is 31 and in his eighth season of significant usage, and tight end roles at that stage can erode quickly once healthier weapons return. For this week, though, the target share and the matchup both point the same direction.
The player whose week changed the most is Jalen Hurts. A blood clot diagnosis that sidelines a starting quarterback is the kind of news that reshuffles an entire offense's fantasy outlook in a single day, and everything else in Philadelphia — Lemon's bump, Goedert's workload — is downstream of who lines up under center on Sunday.