Nolan Carroll's concussion leaves Eagles thin at cornerback

Nolan Carroll exited the 24-15 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday with a concussion, forcing the Eagles to play one of the NFL's best offenses without their top cornerback.

Carroll was replaced by veteran Leodis McKelvin, whom the Eagles did not start because of a hamstring injury. Jalen Mills started at cornerback in McKelvin's place.

"We knew Leodis was kind of on a flat tire, so we wanted to try to take care of him," safety Malcolm Jenkins said. "It was one of those things where we knew we'd put Jalen Mills on Julio [Jones] if we could. . . . We understood what we were doing and how that affected our play calling. Guys adjusted well. Nobody really had any concerns. We just made the adjustments and kept competing."

Carroll must enter the league-mandated concussion protocol and cannot play until he is cleared by an independent neurologist. The Eagles play the Seattle Seahawks next week.

The cornerback depth chart is a concern for the Eagles. Without Carroll, the Eagles have McKelvin and three rookies: Mills, C.J. Smith, and Aaron Grymes.

Jordan Matthews' helmet was bent and he required a new face mask and visor after a hit to the head by Falcons safety Keanu Neal in the fourth quarter. No penalty flag was thrown. Matthews said it "definitely it was a penalty," but that he would gladly take a bloody lip for a victory.

"I don't know what they saw out there," Matthews said. "I don't know if they were watching football games or thinking of going to [Chickie's and Pete's] later. . . . But there was a football game going on where I got hit in the face."

Eagles coach Doug Pederson did not get an explanation for why there was no penalty flag on the play. Neal told reporters after the game that he believed he hit Matthews in the sternum and not the head.

"I heard the [crowd's] reaction, but I didn't see a flag," Neal said. "I thought it was a clean hit. . . . I don't attempt to hit them in the head. That's not me. We're big on the strike zone and in the National Football League they're big on head-to-head collisions and targeting fouls. I try my hardest to make sure my hits are legal and they didn't call a flag today."

Defensive tackle Bennie Logan returned to the lineup after missing three games with a groin injury. Logan was questionable entering the game, as were McKelvin, tight end Trey Burton (hamstring), tight end Brent Celek (rib) and defensive tackle Taylor Hart (ankle).

All played except Hart, who was inactive. The other inactive players were safety Terrence Brooks, defensive end Steven Means, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, and offensive linemen Allen Barbre, Josh Andrews and Dillon Gordon.

Stefen Wisniewski started at left guard for the second consecutive week in place of Barbre, who has a hamstring injury. Grugier-Hill missed his third game with a hamstring injury. Brooks (hamstring) missed his first game because of an injury.

Cornerback Aaron Grymes made his Eagles debut after a promotion from the practice squad on Friday.