Philadelphia Eagles backup tackle/guard Brett Toth hit injured reserve on January 10 after injuring his knee. He was playing center in fill-in duty for Jason Kelce during the regular-season finale when something popped.
Now Toth has started the nine-month recovery process from what sounds like an ACL tear. The former Army standout made the announcement on Instagram, saying: “Year 3 in the 📚s. I can’t help but to feel grateful even with a 9 month recovery process looming post knee surgery. Only option is to work hard and let the 🃏s fall where they must. Not done by a long shot.”
The 6-foot-6, 304-pounder has seen action in 17 games over the past two seasons for Philly. He has racked up 206 total snaps (150 offensive, 56 special teams) while bouncing between the active roster and practice squad.
Toth had his 24-month service commitment waived in 2019, via a U.S. policy change from President Donald Trump for military members, so he could pursue his NFL dreams. He went undrafted out of Army but quickly latched on with the Eagles.
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Jason Kelce Named PFWA All-NFL Team
Jason Kelce had already been named first-team All-Pro and the starting center for the NFC Pro Bowl squad. Add first-team All-NFL to his growing Hall-of-Fame resume after the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) announced their 2021 picks. Kelce topped Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey as the top overall center. Humphrey was selected to the PFWA All-AFC team.
No other Eagles players made the cut. The Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams led all NFC clubs with four conference selections each, while the San Francisco 49ers had three NFC honorees.
Eagles Thankful for Jeff Stoutland
The one constant in the Eagles’ coaching room has been Jeff Stoutland. The gnarled old offensive line coach (and run game coordinator) has been on staff since 2013. He has helped turn Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson into perennial Pro Bowlers while grooming younger guys like Jordan Mailata, Jack Driscoll, Landon Dickerson, Nate Herbig, and Isaac Seumalo. Whenever a player gets hurt, Stoutland has the “next man up.” His importance to the team’s success isn’t lost on anyone in the organization.
“I’ve said this plenty of times with Coach Stout, just thankful that he’s here,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. “He’s not only a great technician to get the guys better individually, but he also does a great job of helping put them in good positions. So, he’s great at scheming and he’s great as a technician. That’s what you want out of all your coaches. And so, obviously, we’re so appreciative of him and his players are so appreciative of him because they know that he’s getting them better.”
Sirianni inherited Stoutland from Doug Pederson — Stoutland was initially hired by Chip Kelly in 2013 — and moving on from the 59-year-old New York native never crossed his mind. Ditto for Stoutland who had been rumored to be seeking a return to coach college football at Alabama.
“There’s 32 coaches in the offensive line in the National Football League. That’s it,” Stoutland said back in June. “And so this is the highest level, so I really love coaching in the National Football League. But most importantly, I love working for the Philadelphia Eagles.”
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Eagles O-Line Takes Another Hit: Veteran Out 9 Months