Key Eagles Player Falls Ill Just Days Before Super Bowl

One Philadelphia Eagle player spent Wednesday and Thursday of this week tackling an illness instead of questions during the team's media day.

With Super Bowl LIX just days away, Jalen Carter's absence from back-to-back press conferences didn't go unnoticed. Unfortunately, the star defensive tackle was unable to attend either, as he's under the weather, per information shared with NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

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Rapoport first revealed in a Feb. 5 statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) that the Pro Bowl pick, 23, "missed his media availability today because of an illness, I’m told. We’ll learn later about whether he participated in practice and if so, how much."

The TV analyst followed up a few hours later, explaining Carter "was a limited participant" in practice due to the illness.

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The following day, NFL Insiders producer Andrew Groover confirmed that the football pro would also sit out any press events scheduled for Feb. 6, writing on X, "No media availability for Jalen Carter again today."

Specific details of Carter's illness were not immediately available, but it appears that he's not the only one who has come down with something before the big game. NBC's John Clark spoke with the team on Thursday afternoon and was told an unspecified illness was "going around through some of the team," but that it was believed Carter would be fully recovered and rested up come Sunday.

"Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio told me Jalen Carter has an illness that is going around through some of the team, but he hopes Jalen will be good for the Super Bowl," Clark shared via X. "Jalen was a limited participant in practice yesterday and was not at the media sessions."

Here's to hoping the team is back on their A-game in time to face off with the Kansas City Chiefs at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, kicking off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 9.

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