On Thursday Night Football, Jalen Carter is inactive against the New York Giants. Coming off their first defeat of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles will miss their defensive tackle big time. Carter’s absence from the Giants’ matchup is not surprising, though. The 24-year-old appeared on the injury report because of a heel injury on Wednesday and is now ruled inactive before the kickoff at MetLife Stadium.

Having played 82% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps whenever playing, Carter’s absence may prove costly for head coach Nick Sirianni. However, to balance Carter’s absence, Za’Darius Smith and Byron Young will both see an increase in their roles on the defensive line. Philadelphia has depth overall, as they are 11th in the Defense Impact Score. The Eagles will look to Jordan Davis to fill the gap and assist in filling Carter’s production, who has 19 tackles and one sack in five games.

The Giants lost five fumbles in Week 5. Philadelphia has been able to force five takeaways on the season, and though they can’t substitute for Carter’s brilliance, HC Sirianni does not have enough choices.

Adding some added depth to the story, NFL insider Ian Rapoport broke that there is a correlation between the MetLife Stadium surface and the Eagles’ benching of Carter. Rapoport suggests, ”My understanding is the turf at MetLife Stadium played a part in his decision.” The field’s atrocious reputation has once again been put in the spotlight, with fans also calling on the NFL to ban turf surfaces entirely.

The infamously harsh conditions have been blamed for countless serious injuries over the years — most recently, Giants’ Malik Nabers suffered an ACL injury after it looked as though he had his foot stuck in the grass. Around the league, teams are increasingly reluctant to play there, ESPN’s Adam Schefter writes. “If a player is nursing an injury, he might be less apt to play through it for a game at MetLife,” one executive told him. For the Eagles, it was about preserving one of their most valuable defensive jewels intact.

However, Carter is not the only candidate they’ll be missing.

Alongside Carter, who else is out?

The Eagles are also losing left guard Landon Dickerson, who hurt his left ankle in last week’s loss. Dickerson left the field late in the first quarter after an AJ Dillon run. Toth will probably start in his place against New York. Dickerson’s availability is also being supplemented by recurring injuries to center Cam Jurgens (back) and right tackle Lane Johnson (stinger), threatening to place the normally stalwart Eagles’ offensive line in jeopardy.

Philadelphia’s entire inactive list for the game is CB Mac McWilliams, LG Landon Dickerson, TE Grant Calcaterra, WR Xavier Gipson, and QB Sam Howell (third QB). Howell will once again act as the backup QB to Tanner McKee, who is permitted to participate in the game only if both QBs are injured.

It’s been a challenge to this point for the Eagles’ offense used to dominate games at the front of the line. However, with or without Carter and Dickerson, the defending NFC champs have the resources available to counter. With Za’Darius Smith, Byron Young, and Jordan Davis leading the defense and Hurts looking to bounce back from a muted showing in Denver, the Eagles will look to flourish in the adversity, silence depth doubts, and get back on track.