It wouldn’t be a normal week without news of a “lingering” injury on the Eagles’ offensive line.
Lane Johnson has been battling complications from “tightrope” surgery on his left ankle for about a month and those issues will likely hinder him all year. The All-Pro right tackle left Sunday night’s game after the team’s first offensive possession, then returned for the second series of the third quarter.
Johnson’s ankle has been swelling on him and he needed time for it to “get warm,” according to head coach Doug Pederson. He still finished the contest with 37 total snaps, or 60-percent of the offensive reps. Problem is, the ailment isn’t going away anytime soon for the 30-year-old.
“It’s going to linger,” Pederson told reporters on Monday. “We’re at that point now where everybody’s body is sore and the injuries that we have, they’re going to continue. I mean, you’re not going to get 100-percent healthy. There’s no way. We just don’t have time to get everybody 100-percent. It’s just the nature of the game. He’s a tough kid, he plays through it, and he’s going to have to continue playing through it the rest of the year.”
[W]hatever it takes. 💪 #PaveTheLane #FlyEaglesFly
Rookie Jack Driscoll replaced Johnson for the snaps he missed in Week 4. He also stepped in for the three-time Pro Bowler in Week 1 against Washington and looked sharp in fill-in duty. Still, you never want to lose the best right tackle in football. The Eagles are already down three projected starters on the line in Andre Dillard, Brandon Brooks, and Isaac Seumalo, plus veteran Jason Peters.
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T.J. Edwards, Rudy Ford to Miss ‘Some Time’
Pederson also updated the status of injured linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and safety Rudy Ford (hamstring). The two special-teams stalwarts left Sunday night’s game and never returned. Edwards had been seeing increased reps at linebacker (18 defensive snaps versus San Francisco) while Ford has been a revelation as a gunner. Both guys are expected to miss “some time” with no timeline outlined.
“Both of those guys, obviously injured in the game yesterday, it appears right now that they’re going to miss some time,” Pederson said. “Not sure of the actual length of time, but there’s a chance they miss.”
Eagles LB ranking through 3 weeks (min 100 reps, 65 players)
– TJ Edwards: 65.4 (14th)
– Duke Riley: 47.0 (42nd)
– Nate Gerry: 45.1 (44th)
#Eagles
Alex Singleton picked up the slack at linebacker after Edwards went out. His 30-yard interception return for a touchdown iced the game in the fourth quarter. The loss of Edwards could be major, though. He’s arguably been their best linebacker this year. Meanwhile, Grayland Arnold saw an uptick in special-teams snaps after Ford went down. The undrafted rookie out of Baylor saw 15 snaps and looked solid in punt coverage.
Miles Sanders ‘Fine’ Despite Missing Final Drive
It was very curious not to see Miles Sanders on the field late in the fourth quarter as the Eagles were trying to salt away the victory up 25-20. Instead of feeding their feature back, they chose to hand it off to Corey Clement on first down (1-yard gain), Boston Scott on second down (no gain), and Carson Wentz on a designed run (minus-5 yards). The Eagles had to punt it back to San Francisco with the game hanging in the balance.
Game on the line, chance to put it away and Doug hands it off to Corey Clement on 1st down, Boston Scott on 2nd down, then runs Wentz on 3rd down. No Miles Sanders on that series. Why? Someone explain … #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
The logical assumption was Sanders was hurt, possibly feeling discomfort from an injured glute that limited him at practice all week. Not the case, per Pederson.
“Miles is fine,” Pederson said. “Listen, don’t read into anything. We have situational football. Corey was one of our backs at the end of the game in our four-minute offense. He’s powerful, he’s big, and so by design, by game-plan design, he was in on those specific plays at the end of the game.”
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Ominous ‘Linger’ Update on Injured Eagles All-Pro, 2 Other Players Out