The hope was that when the Philadelphia Eagles traded for Jonathan Greenard and gave him a four-year, $100 million contract extension, he would make an impact on this team, but fans are still waiting for it in Week 3.
Greenard suffered a freak pectoral injury while lifting weights in the weight room before training camp, which kept him out of camp. Two weeks into the season, he has been ruled out of both games.
Patience is wearing thin with Eagles fans trying to figure out when Greenard will actually play in a game. At this point, is this becoming a waste of money, given what Philly has on their defensive line right now?
Jonathan Greenard's latest update is not going to ease Eagles fans' minds
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was asked about Greenard's progress and his status for their Week 3 showdown against the Chicago Bears. Fangio didn't give the most encouraging words about Greenard.
"He's definitely not ready for a full workload," Fangio said via njdotcom's Cayden Steele. "He's not only coming off inactivity, he's coming off an injury. His injury for a good bit -- the first, I don't know, four to six, seven weeks -- he really couldn't do a whole lot conditioning wise either. So yeah, he's nowhere near ready for a full load."
Nowhere ready for a full load? How far off is Greenard from that?
The Eagles gave up two third-round picks and put $100 million in him. This is slowly becoming a problem if fans are not going to see him do a lot of work. He was supposed to be the replacement for Jaelan Phillips, and that's not becoming the case at all.
Eagles are doing okay without Jonathan Greenard at edge rusher, though
If there is any good news from this, it's that Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith Jr. are doing a pretty good job holding their own as edge rushers. Hunt and Smith have seven pressures and six hurries each to start the season. Smith even has a sack in his stat line from the Eagles' 24-20 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 2.
No, only having one sack between the two aren't great, but it is early in the season. Hunt and Smith are making a good enough impact that they are surviving without Greenard in the lineup.
Philly has been getting help from their defensive tackle and linebacker positions as well. Jalen Carter and Jihaad Campbell each have a sack on the season to support the edge rushers.
What are realistic expectations for Jonathan Greenard moving forward?
Greenard might not even play in the Bears game in Week 3 because of the injury. Philly doesn't seem to be in any hurry to get him back on the field and is being very cautious.
Even if the Eagles decide to play Greenard in the Bears game, how much will he actually play? It sounds like Fangio would only put him out there for a limited number of snaps, so maybe 20 to 30 in the contest.
Fangio is all about players earning their stripes and earning his respect before he puts them on the field. If he doesn't think they will impact the game the way he wants, he won't play them.
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Eagles fans need to start seeing something out of Greenard because this is starting to get frustrating to pay this man all this money for nothing. Philly needs to see something out of him soon or there are going to be bigger problems at hand.
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