Eagles Leave Joe Milton Empty-Handed While Giants Get Malik Nabers Back

The Philadelphia Eagles have apparently decided that the best way to welcome quarterback Joe Milton to his first career NFL start is to take away all of his reliable targets.

According to Ian Rapoport, the Eagles have officially ruled out wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks for Sunday's divisional clash against the New York Giants. Smith is now missing his fifth game in six weeks with a lingering hamstring issue, while Wicks is sidelined again with an ankle injury.

"Ian Rapoport reported the injury updates for the Eagles, Giants, and Commanders."

Throwing a young quarterback into an NFC East rivalry game without his top weapons is the football equivalent of tossing someone the keys to a manual transmission car while they are blindfolded. Milton is going to spend his Sunday afternoon handing the ball to Saquon Barkley and praying for a miracle.

Meanwhile, the Giants are getting the exact opposite news. Malik Nabers, who just casually wrapped up NFC Offensive Player of the Month honors, is fully cleared from his knee injury and ready to go.

New York is not entirely in the clear, though. Leading rusher Cam Skattebo is listed as doubtful with a hamstring injury. Skattebo has been the engine of the Giants' ground game with 418 yards and two touchdowns, meaning the offense is going to lean heavily on Nabers to bail them out of third downs.

Just to round out the NFC East injury bingo, the Washington Commanders also ruled out receivers Treylon Burks and Dyami Brown for their Sunday matchup.

If you are looking at the prop markets for this Eagles-Giants game, the math is getting incredibly simple. Philadelphia has no choice but to feed Barkley in his revenge game against his former team, while the Giants are going to force-feed Nabers until the turf gives out.

Sunday's game in Philadelphia is going to be a fascinating mess of backup receivers and heavy workloads for the stars left standing. We will find out very quickly if Milton can survive a trial by fire, or if the Giants are about to ruin his weekend.