Eagles set to make a punter decision ahead of the Super Bowl

Feb 2, 2023 - 7:10 PM

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The Philadelphia Eagles officially activated the 21-day practice window for punter Arryn Siposs to return from injured reserve.

Siposs will participate in practice for the first time since early December. He told reporters that he is “good to go” with no physical limitations.

Siposs suffered an ankle injury during the Birds’ Week 14 win over the New York Giants. It was almost a pretty badass moment since he scooped his blocked punt with one hand in stride and got closer than expected to making a first down. But Siposs failed to move the chains and ultimately got hurt to find himself on IR.

The Eagles signed veteran punter Brett Kern ahead of Week 15 to fill in for Siposs. Despite having an accomplished track record, he was pretty bad to finish out the regular season. Here’s what we wrote about him after Week 18:

Kern is the NFL’s second-worst graded punter by Pro Football Focus. He ranks 34th out of 35 punters (minimum 10 attempts) in net average at 45.0. He ranks 35th out of 35 punters in average hangtime at 3.83 seconds.

For context, Jake Elliott’s sole punt while filling in as an emergency punter had a 4.26 hang time. Arryn Siposs is tied for 26th at 4.23 seconds.

Kern’s numbers have not improved in the playoffs. He is PFF’s third-worst graded postseason punter out of 14 players. He ranks 11th in net average at 39.3 and dead last in average hangtime at 3.72 seconds.

In fairness, one of Kern’s punts in the San Francisco 49ers game hit the FOX SkyCam wire and caused it to only go 39 yards when it should’ve instead been a redo. Kern also nearly had a coffin corner punt that barely went into the end zone for a touchback instead. b

The Eagles certainly should not be hoping to punt much in the Super Bowl. But in order to be best prepared for those situations, they should probably activate Siposs to the roster and go with him. They’ll have six practices leading up to the big game to see how he’s doing while coming off injury. The team can then decide whether they want to ride with Kern or Siposs on February 12.

We thought we would get a punter battle in training camp this year. Didn’t happen. Instead, we’re getting one leading up to the Super Bowl!