Hobbs' absence could give Patterson a chance to shine.


After not practicing all week, backup left tackle King Dunlap and cornerback Ellis Hobbs have been officially ruled out for the Eagles' Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Dunlap had been starting in Jason Peters' absence, but Peters is expected to start against the Colts so Dunlap was going to head back to the bench anyway. He has proven to be a valuable backup, but now the undrafted free agent Austin Howard will be the guy called upon should Peters have a setback in the coming weeks.

Hobbs, as we knew, was already ruled out as a starter. The team hadn't ruled out the possibility of him perhaps playing in a reserve role, but Hobbs will sit this one out and open up some playing time for rookie Trevard Lindley.

Lindley is expected to see time when the defense goes to its dime set and could even platoon with Dimitri Patterson as the man across from Asante Samuel on the right side.

As for the rest of the Eagles' injury report, Peters (knee), wide receiver DeSean Jackson (concussion), defensive end Juqua Parker (hip), defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley (elbow), reserve lineman Nick Cole (knee), defensive end Brandon Graham (ankle), and quarterback Michael Vick (rib) were all listed as probable.

There were not any players listed as questionable or doubtful, and everyone listed as probable is expected to play barring any setbacks. Of the seven listed, only Cole is either not a starter or expected to see a lot of time in a rotational role.

Outside of Hobbs, the Eagles will have every one of their starters available to them, which is obviously very important when playing a quality team like the Colts. But if it takes Vick, Jackson, and Peters too long to get back into the swing of things after missing some time it still might not be enough.

The offense is going to have to score a lot of point on the arm of Vick and the rest of the offense if they're going to out-duel Peyton Manning -- recently ranked as the eighth-based player in NFL history by NFL Films' Top 100 series -- and even the slightest mistake due to an injury or otherwise could mean a .500 record for the Birds after eight weeks.