Getty Darren Sproles warms up before the NFC Divisional Round against the New Orleans Saints.
Doug Pederson crammed a ton of information into Friday morning’s press conference. First, he confirmed Jay Ajayi was in town for a workout.
Ajayi could be asked to step in immediately and offer depth to a running backs group that will be without Darren Sproles and possibly Jordan Howard. Pederson revealed Sproles had suffered a torn hip flexor muscle and he’s done for the year. The injury was originally classified as a quadriceps injury.
Meanwhile, Howard is officially listed as “questionable” and his status for Sunday is very much in jeopardy. He has been cleared for certain individual drills at practice, but not for contact. Howard incurred a “stinger” shoulder injury two weeks ago against the Bears. His status is day to day.
Pederson mentioned that he would feel comfortable sliding Ajayi right into the gameplan this week, assuming he passes a conditioning test. The coach also made a point to call out D’Angelo Henderson as a player to watch from the practice squad. He’s a “stout, thumper type of back,” according to Pederson.
“We got a couple of options there, but if it’s Jay and really if it’s either one, I think we can give them a little bit of work,” Pederson said.
Did Sproles Suffer Quad Injury or Hip Flexor?
There was some debate around what exact injury Darren Sproles sustained. He has been appearing on the injury report with a quadriceps issue but the Eagles announced Friday that he had a torn hip flexor muscle.
When Doug Pederson was asked to elaborate on it, he confirmed it was the same injury. He hurt it on Oct. 6 and rehabbed for four weeks before re-aggravating it during Wednesday’s practice. The head coach pointed to his leg to demonstrate that part of the body is all connected.
“It is a quad. Listen, you are asking medical … it’s a hip, it’s a quad, it’s kind of all right there,” Pederson said.
Statement from the Philadelphia Eagles regarding RB Darren Sproles
Pederson Hints Eagles Will Attend Kaepernick Workout
The Eagles weren’t one of the initial 11 teams listed as attending Colin Kaepernick’s private workout on Saturday in Atlanta. That doesn’t mean they won’t be represented since they still have 24 hours to make that decision.
Head coach Doug Pederson confirmed that he won’t personally be there. He has to get his team ready to play the Patriots, but the assumption remains the Eagles organization will put in their due diligence and check in on Kaepernick.
“I would assume that we would [attend]. We’re in season so I can’t be there,” Pederson said. “I’m comfortable with the guys we have but I would assume that we would have somebody there.”
Pederson said he assumes #Eagles will have somebody at Colin Kaepernick’s workout on Saturday. “We’re in season, so I can’t be there. We’re comfortable with the guys we have but I’m assuming we’d have somebody there.”
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie commented on the organization taking a chance on Kaepernick last year and made it clear it would have to make sense from a football standpoint.
“We are completely happy with our quarterback situation. Like every position situation, if that happened we’d have to fully evaluate it,” Lurie said, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “With Michael Vick, there was a complete vetting of: How is he as a teammate? What is his character? What’s his potential? What’s his football intelligence?”