5 Injured Philadelphia Eagles starters, 5 updates on each one
Five injured Philadelphia Eagles starters remain a topic of discussion as the Wildcard Round of the NFL Playoffs approach. Here’s an update on each one.
Injuries are, unfortunately, a part of the game, and as the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Wildcard Game versus the Seattle Seahawks approaches, expect to hear a ton about where guys are in their recoveries, how they’re feeling, and most importantly, whether or not they’ll play on Sunday evening.
You almost need a fight card to keep up with who’s hurt and who isn’t, but let’s all take a moment and look at five key starters and what we know about them as of the first day of 2020.
1. Jalen Mills, cornerback: Jalen Mills left the Week 16 contest versus the Dallas Cowboys early and was unavailable for the season finale versus the New York Giants. According to Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, he’ll get mental reps on New Year’s Day, and you guessed it. He’s ‘day to day’.
2. Lane Johnson, offensive tackle: With everyone that we know is injured, Coach Pederson seemed to acknowledge that Lane Johnson and Zach Ertz are currently the two Eagles on this list that are the readiest to practice. In terms of ’65’, Coach expects him to participate in walkthroughs on New Year’s day and ‘take a couple of plays’.
3. Brandon Brooks, guard: Brandon Brooks was placed on the team’s IR (injured reserve) early on New Year’s Day. His season is over. They’ve re-signed wide receiver Shelton Gibson to fill the vacated roster space. Playing Matt Pryor at guard and Halapoulivaati Vaitai at right tackle if Johnson can’t go seems to be the theory. Nate Herbig will also get some work this week to see what he might provide.
4. Zach Ertz, tight end: As mention, Ertz is expected to practice this week and Coach added some intrigue there stating he ‘might be able to give us a little something this morning’. At this point, he hasn’t been cleared for contact and it’s doubtful that he’ll play.
5. Miles Sanders, running back: As you might expect, hearing the words ‘running back’ and ‘ankle sprain’ in the same sentence causes quite a bit of discomfort for any Eagles fan. The Eagles are going to take their time with Miles Sanders. No one wants to see the further injury of their star rookie. It doesn’t appear that he’ll practice on Wednesday.