The Eagles announced on Wednesday morning that they placed linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill on Injured Reserve with a back injury.
"Following Sunday's game at Washington, Kamu Grugier-Hill reported back discomfort to team physicians. On Monday afternoon, an MRI confirmed a lower lumbar disc herniation. After consulting with the team's spine surgeon, the decision was made to proceed with surgery," the team said in a statement.
The Eagles filled Grugier-Hill's open roster spot by promoting defensive tackle Bruce Hector from the practice squad. T.J. Edwards started at outside linebacker in Grugier-Hill's spot two weeks ago against the Giants. Edwards played eight snaps on defense in Sunday's win over Washington. Nigel Bradham leads the linebackers with 596 snaps this season. Bradham and Nathan Gerry have been the nickel package linebackers the past two weeks.
Grugier-Hill, a two-time team captain, had 23 tackles, four tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery in 10 games (six starts) in 2019. Grugier-Hill missed the first three games of the season with a knee injury suffered in Training Camp then was sidelined with a concussion in the overtime win over New York.
Acquired off waivers from the Patriots prior to the start of the 2016 season, Grugier-Hill posted 68 tackles, one sack, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery in 59 career regular-season and postseason games.
Known for his special teams prowess, Grugier-Hill accounted for 36 special teams tackles, including 19 in 2017 which tied for the third most in a single season by an Eagle since 2009. He was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2017. Over the past three seasons, no Eagle had more special teams tackles than Grugier-Hill's 31.
The 25-year-old Grugier-Hill was originally a sixth-round pick of New England in 2016 out of Eastern Illinois. Grugier-Hill is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Hector was originally signed by the Eagles as a rookie free agent out of South Florida in 2018. He played in eight games for the Eagles as a rookie. This season, he was on the active roster for the Week 8 win in Buffalo, where he played 30 snaps. The Eagles have four defensive tackles with Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan as the starters, then Anthony Rush and Hector coming off the bench.
Later on Wednesday morning, the Eagles signed rookie linebacker Deshaun Davis to fill Hector's spot on the practice squad. The 5-11, 236-pound Davis was a sixth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals out of Auburn this past April. He was waived during the final roster cutdown and signed with the Jaguars' practice squad where he lasted only a few days. A first-team All-SEC selection in 2018, the three-year starter at middle linebacker finished his collegiate career with 266 tackles. He was invited to play in the Senior Bowl, near his hometown of Prichard, Alabama.
