Eastern Washington Professional Athletes

Eastern Washington sent a lot of talent to the NFL. This week, the league sent two of its own back to the sidelines.

Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and defensive end Samson Ebukam — both Eagles products from Cheney — were placed on injured reserve within days of each other, delivering a rough stretch for EWU alumni across the league.

Bourne's Season Ends in Arizona

Bourne's night started promisingly enough. The Cardinals wide receiver hauled in one catch for 29 yards in Arizona's dramatic 33-30 overtime win over the Cowboys on November 1 — but with just 21 seconds left in the first half, he suffered a non-contact leg injury that immediately drew concern. By Monday, head coach Mike LaFleur confirmed the worst: a fractured tibia. On Tuesday, the Cardinals made it official, placing Bourne on injured reserve and ending his season.

The loss stings for Arizona, which had already seen Jalen Brooks go down for the year and watched Michael Wilson gut through broken ribs in the same game. Bourne, who signed a deal that makes him a $12M offensive piece for the Cardinals, had been carving out a role in the offense. He'll watch the rest of the year from the sideline — along with running back Jeremiyah Love, who was placed on IR in the same roster move.

Bourne, a former 49er who spent five seasons in San Francisco before landing in Arizona, addressed the injury on social media with a brief seven-word message, keeping his public response characteristically low-key.

Ebukam Ruled Out, Then Shut Down in Atlanta

Meanwhile in Atlanta, the story followed a similar arc. Ebukam was ruled out for the Falcons' Week 9 game in Madrid against the Bengals, then placed on injured reserve Tuesday — an acknowledgment that his injury carries longer-term consequences. The Falcons, already navigating a depleted edge rusher room, will lean on James Pearce Jr. to help fill the void. The timing is particularly costly for a team counting on its pass rush to stay competitive.

Ebukam had no recorded stats from Atlanta's November 1 game against Tampa Bay, suggesting he may have been limited even before the IR designation came down.

The Rest of the EWU Roster

Not all the news from EWU alumni was bleak. In New England, wide receiver Efton Chism III turned in a solid afternoon against Miami, catching 5 passes for 37 yards in a 24-19 Patriots win — a quietly productive showing for a receiver still working to establish himself at the NFL level.

Cooper Kupp, now with the Seattle Seahawks, had a modest night in a 34-17 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday — 1 catch, 7 yards, and a touchdown. The score was a bright spot in an otherwise quiet performance, though Kupp followed the game with a candid three-word message on Instagram acknowledging the team's offensive struggles.

The dual IR placements for Bourne and Ebukam are a painful reminder of how quickly an NFL season can turn. For Eastern Washington, two of its most prominent NFL representatives are now watching from the outside — and their teams are left scrambling to adjust.

Cooper Kupp's Week from Hell

Eastern Washington's most prominent NFL name had a week he'd like to forget — twice over.

First came Sunday, October 11, when a disputed fourth-down spot call ended Seattle's comeback bid against San Francisco. With the Seahawks trailing the 49ers and needing a first down to extend the game, Kupp was ruled short after a catch on fourth-and-10. Officials marked him down just shy of the marker, and the game was over. Seahawks fans erupted. Replay angles were inconclusive enough to make everyone miserable, and the NFL subsequently stepped in to explain why the call stood — pointing to the limitations of RFID tracking chips and Hawk-Eye technology, neither of which can definitively adjudicate a spot in real time. FOX Sports officiating analyst Dean Blandino backed the ruling, noting that without clear video evidence to overturn the on-field decision, officials had no grounds to reverse it. Kupp, to his credit, publicly agreed with that logic — but that didn't mean he was happy about it.

He caught just 2 passes for 15 yards in that loss.

Before Seattle could exhale, Thursday Night Football arrived. The Seahawks erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit against the Denver Broncos — and still lost, 17-14. Kupp bounced back statistically with 5 catches for 50 yards, but the result was the same. Afterward, he made no effort to hide his frustration. Head coach Mike Macdonald's postgame message was blunt: there are no moral victories in the NFL. Kupp echoed that sentiment. Earlier in the week, between the two losses, Kupp had publicly defended quarterback Sam Darnold, expressing confidence that the offense could find its footing. That confidence hasn't yet translated into wins.

With the November 10 trade deadline approaching, the Seahawks' receiver situation is already drawing outside attention — analysts have floated Jerry Jeudy as a potential addition to play alongside Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Whether Seattle pursues that or not, the pressure on this offense is real and building.

Chism Forcing the Question in New England

While Kupp was weathering the storm in Seattle, fellow EWU product Efton Chism III was quietly making a case for himself 3,000 miles away. The Patriots wide receiver caught 5 passes for 57 yards in New England's 45-17 blowout win over the Raiders on October 11 — his second consecutive week as a genuine factor in the Patriots' offense.

Back-to-back impactful performances have raised an uncomfortable question for New England's coaching staff: when injured receivers return, does Chism's production earn him sustained playing time, or does he get squeezed out? Sports Illustrated put the question directly to its readers, and the underlying point is hard to argue with — Chism has done the work. The undrafted path from Eastern Washington to a legitimate NFL role is never a straight line, and right now, he's on the right side of the depth chart conversation.

Around the Rest of the Eagles Abroad

Kendrick Bourne had a quietly solid afternoon for Arizona on October 11 — 5 receptions, 70 yards — in a blowout loss to Detroit, 45-21. The production was there; the team result wasn't. And Samson Ebukam recorded a sack for Atlanta in their 30-23 loss to Baltimore, providing a small bright spot in a tough outcome for the Falcons.

It was a week that showcased both the highs and lows of life in the NFL for Eastern Washington alumni — none more viscerally than Kupp's.