Sixers Joel Embiid VJ Edgecombe Injury Updates

Embiid and Edgecombe both OUT at practice Friday, Sixers head to Atlanta shorthanded

Drew Smith
March 6, 2026
Sixers
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The injury news out of Sixers practice Friday morning was not good.

Joel Embiid did not participate and has not yet gotten on the court since suffering a right oblique strain during the win over Miami last Thursday.

The team said he will be reevaluated in approximately one week, which means he will miss Saturday’s game in Atlanta and at least two more beyond that. That reevaluation timeline was supposed to come before the Hawks game and instead it just confirmed what most people feared in that Embiid is not close to returning.

Joel Embiid will be re-evaluated again next week.

Joel Embiid on the court at Sixers practice. However, notice the foot wear. pic.twitter.com/rfX6eAEciF
— Bob Cooney (@Bobcooney1076) March 6, 2026

VJ Edgecombe also sat out practice Friday. He suffered a lumbar contusion when he fell hard on his lower back during the blowout loss to the Spurs on Wednesday, missed the second half of that game, and was in street clothes for the Jazz game on Thursday. His status for Saturday in Atlanta is unclear heading into the weekend.

Sixers: Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe Injury Updates

Sixers say Joel Embiid (right oblique) will be re-evaluated in approximately one week, has begun individual strength and conditioning.

VJ Edgecombe (back) did not practice, had an individual session post-practice.
— Noah Levick (@NoahLevick) March 6, 2026

The one piece of good news is that Kelly Oubre is back. He missed both legs of the Sixers’ recent back-to-back with an illness and was not even in the building for either game. He should be available Saturday against the Hawks.

So the Sixers head to Atlanta with Oubre back and everything else in question. Embiid is a week away at minimum. Edgecombe is a game-time decision at best. Tyrese Maxey is going to have to carry this team again and the Hawks, sitting just two games behind the Sixers for the 10th seed, are not going to roll over.

This is exactly the kind of game a shorthanded Sixers team can lose and suddenly the cushion in the standings gets very thin very fast.

This stretch is going to define a lot about where the Sixers end up in the playoff picture. Winning games without Embiid is hard enough. Doing it without Edgecombe too is a different level of difficult.