Marcus Epps’ return, Jalen Carter’s injury could be factors for Vic Fangio’s defense vs. Chargers

Vic Fangio’s defense could feature a different starting safety on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.

On Tuesday, the Eagles opened the 21-day practice window for Marcus Epps, who has been on injured reserve with an undisclosed ailment for the last month. Fangio answered affirmatively on Wednesday when asked if Epps would be ready to play on Monday and if he was in contention to start.

“He’s an experienced safety,” Fangio said. “He’s got good instincts. Got [a] good feel for the game. We’ll have to get a feel and a barometer about where he’s at missing the last four, five weeks, whatever it was where he couldn’t practice, anyway.”

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Epps, 29, returned for a second stint with the Eagles when he signed to the practice squad in late August. Epps appeared in 59 games as an Eagle, including playoffs, from 2019-22. He had been elevated from the practice squad to the game day roster for the first three weeks of the 2025 season before he signed to the active roster in late September.

Before going on injured reserve, Epps was the third safety behind Reed Blankenship and Drew Mukuba, who went on injured reserve with an ankle injury last week. When Blankenship was injured in the Week 6 loss to the New York Giants, Epps entered the game in the third quarter ahead of Sydney Brown, the Eagles’ 2023 third-rounder out of Illinois.

With Epps out for the last four weeks, Brown earned his first full-time start of the season in place of Mukuba in Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bears. According to Pro Football Focus, Brown finished with six tackles and one missed tackle. He also conceded two receptions on five targets for 13 yards. Fangio equated Brown’s individual performance to the rest of the defense’s.

“It was a lot like the rest of us,” Fangio said. “Some good, some bad.”

Fangio could prioritize Epps’ experience if he decides to make a change at safety. Epps was a starter on the 2022 Eagles team that fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. He first joined the Eagles in November 2019 after he was waived by the Minnesota Vikings, the team that drafted him that year in the sixth round out of Wyoming.

Epps spent 3½ seasons (one as a full-time starter) in his first stint in Philadelphia before moving on to the Las Vegas Raiders from 2023-24. He played just three games last season before he suffered a torn ACL.

Speaking of players who had some good and some bad moments against the Bears, Fangio discussed Jalen Carter.

Carter played just 70.1% of the defensive snaps, his second-lowest share of the season. But Carter’s issues run deeper than one off game. In the locker room afterward, the 24-year-old defensive tackle said he didn’t want to get into what he has been “going through,” seeming to allude to a shoulder injury that he had been playing through earlier in the season.

Fangio confirmed Wednesday that the ailment is still plaguing Carter.

“He does have a shoulder issue,” Fangio said. “He’s been playing with it. Late in the game, he had a great play with it. But, yeah, it’s definitely something there.”

The injury limited Carter’s playing time and his effectiveness on the field, especially while the Eagles conceded a season-worst 281 rushing yards. He still managed to sack Caleb Williams in the second quarter and finish the game with four tackles (including two for losses) and two batted passes.

Before Friday’s game, Carter had played a single-season career-high 87.5% of the defensive snaps. When asked whether Carter can continue to play the high volume of snaps that he had previously been accustomed to this season, Fangio said, “We’ll see.”