What to watch while the Panthers are on a bye week

The Panthers’ next opponent, the Eagles, have been in the headlines a lot this week, for better or worse. The club won their first two games of the season, close ones but wins nonetheless, but have dropped the last two.

During their Week 4 loss to the Rams, Philadelphia lost star running back Saquon Barkley to a hamstring injury and was also without DeVonta Smith, who has a hamstring injury.

Barkley and Smith have both been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars. But the real story comes on the offensive line. Left guard Landon Dickerson is already on injured reserve, and Cam Jurgens (who had moved from center to left guard) was traded to the Ravens on Wednesday.

That all paled in comparison to Tuesday’s news: longtime stalwart right tackle Lane Johnson announced he was retiring.

They’ll now take a patchwork line and offense with less firepower across the pond to face the second-best rushing defense in the league (the Jaguars allow only 74.3 yards per game on the ground).

The Eagles are 2-2. They will kick off against the Jaguars at 9:30 a.m. EST on NFL Network in London.