Injuries: The Story of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2018 season
By Jack Duffy
The season following the Eagles’ historic Super Bowl run has eluded expectations, and a large part of that is due to the team being plagued with injuries.
Every NFL team’s goal following a Super Bowl run is coming back again with a chance to repeat. That is not the case for last years recipient of The Lombardi Trophy. The injury bug has hit the Philadelphia Eagles hard this year (and in all of the wrong places).
An injury to a single player in sports like basketball can be catastrophic due to the effect a single guy can have on a team (i.e., LeBron James single-handily carrying the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals). But in the NFL, injuries are typically less extreme if a single (non-Quarterback) player gets hurt because there are 11 men on the field and teams have much more depth.
The typical NFL injury scenario does not apply to the Eagles. Every position, every side of the ball, and almost every notable player has suffered untimely wounds for this Eagles club. The injuries for the Eagles started way before the season even began and had continued all through week 9.
To give one a glimpse at the array of injuries that have affected the Eagles this year, here is a (long) list of injuries to key players in 2018:
Past Injuries:
- Carson Wentz: Torn ACL – Out weeks 1-2
- Alshon Jeffery: Shoulder – Out weeks 1-3
- Corey Graham: Hamstring – Out weeks 6-8
Injured Reserve:
- Chris Maragos: ACL/PCL – week 6, 2017
- Timmy Jernigan: Herniated disk (back) – off-season (likely to return soon)
- Mack Hollins: Groin – pre-season
- Mike Wallace: Foot – week 3 (expected to return in December)
- Rodney McLeod: ACL -week 3
- Jay Ajayi: ACL – week 5
- Derek Barnett: Shoulder – week 8
Current Injuries:
- Darren Sproles: Hamstring: missed weeks 2-9: likely out Sunday
- Sidney Jones: Hamstring: missed weeks 7-9: likely to play Sunday
- Ronald Darby: ACL: torn ACL- likely IR for the rest of the season
- Jalen Mills: Foot: missed week 9, likely out Sunday
- Haloti Ngata: Knee: limited in practice Thursday, unknown for Sunday
- Lane Johnson: Knee: likely to play Sunday
- Malcolm Jenkins: wrist: likely to play Sunday
(Injury reports via Pro-Football-Reference & 94 WIP Radio)