Getty Jalen Hurts and Henry Ruggs catch up at the Eagles-Raiders game. The two were teammates at Alabama.
The Philadelphia Eagles were missing four players at the first practice ahead of Week 9. Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (knee/rest), wide receiver Jalen Reagor (ankle), defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (shoulder) highlighted the injury report.
All three starters, along with wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (ankle), were listed DNP (did not participate). Seeing Cox’s name on there is nothing new as he usually takes veteran rest days, although the knee issue was a new development. Hargrave battled a shoulder injury all last week and played versus Detroit (31 snaps, or 50%).
Reagor’s injury is thought to be a more serious one. He twisted his ankle badly on the Eagles’ first scoring drive and left on a cart. Head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t have an immediate update on the second-year receiver.
“We’ll see what happens this week,” Sirianni said on November 1. “We’re hopeful for this week, but we’ll see as the week progresses.”
Wednesday injury report
Jack Driscoll was one of six limited participants at practice. He hurt his thumb against Detroit and Nate Herbig replaced him at right guard. That would be the plan again if Driscoll can’t get himself 100% healthy. The veterans on the offensive line have a ton of faith in Herbig.
“Every time Nate’s called up, he plays well,” right tackle Lane Johnson said. “And he’s one of the bros around here.”
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Eagles Address Henry Ruggs’ Situation
The fatal car crash involving Henry Ruggs that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old woman has been an unfortunate talking point across the NFL. Sirianni brought the topic up during a team meeting to make sure all his players had the details on it.
“I addressed it in our team meeting,” Sirianni said. “Any time something like that happens we are going to address it as a team and not be passive about it and talk through the issues that are out there, whether it’s with this team or the NFL in general.”
Nick Sirianni said he addressed what happened with Henry Ruggs during the Eagles’ team meeting Wednesday.
Jalen Hurts was Ruggs’ teammate for two seasons at Alabama where he threw passes to the speedy receiver. The Eagles quarterback didn’t have too much to say about the incident.
“I give my condolences to the family of the young lady who passed away,” Hurts said. “It’s unfortunate to see a situation like that unfold and I’ll kind of leave it at that. It hurts my heart for everybody involved.”
Former Alabama Teammates Henry Ruggs III & Jalen Hurts meet briefly before Eagles-Raiders Game
Jason Kelce Loving Relaxed Protocols
With all the hub-bub surrounding Aaron Rodgers and his vaccination status, it was refreshing to hear Jason Kelce confirm the majority of the Eagles’ locker room is protected against COVID-19. The All-Pro center cited the team’s “high vaccination rate” when he was discussing how nice it was to get back to normal.
Jason Kelce is loving the team camaraderie, especially with relaxed COVID-19 restrictions. He can hang out with the guys again, confirms a high vaccination rate and jokes: “The cafeteria and the locker room is the only reason I’m still playing football.” #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
The team cafeteria is open and players are allowed to hang out again following last season’s COVID-19 restrictions. Kelce thrives on the camaraderie and relationships off the field.
“Getting to sit and talk around the guys, connect, whatever you want to call it, that is what’s really fun about sports,” Kelce said. “That’s been awesome to be able to do that this year, with the protocols being relaxed. Really high vaccination rate on the team so guys are out talking to each other. Kind of back to what it used to be, somewhat.”