Each week, the Eagles seem to be getting a little bit healthier. Of course, they also seem to lose another player or two to a new injury each week, so it's actually been pretty hard to tell just how good this team can be given that they haven't played with their full complement of players since their Week 1 come-from-behind win over Washington.
Unfortunately, it appears the Birds will once again head into Sunday shorthanded on both sides of the ball. Last week, the Eagles got back Alshon Jeffery and Dallas Goedert (for
real this time), but lost Sidney Jones and Avonte Maddox to injures
throughout the game. However, they're still waiting on wideout DeSean
Jackson to return after aggravating an abdominal injury early on against the
Falcons. And that doesn't even mention longer-term injuries to Ronald Darby, Malik Jackson and Tim Jernigan — or Jalen Mills, who has yet to play this season while on the PUP list.
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On Wednesday, head coach Doug Pederson provided injury updates on several rehabbing Birds. Here's a look at what he had to say:
WR DeSean Jackson: According to Pederson, Jackson is still rehabbing and has yet to return to practice for the Eagles.
"He won't do anything today," Pederson said. "He'll just continue to rehab today and then we'll progress from there."
That makes it seem like he's likely going to be out for Sunday's game against the Jets. And is that really the worst thing for the veteran wideout? The Birds should have plenty of firepower to get past New York without Jackson, so why rush him back from an injury — one that had at least one doctor recommend surgery — when he can have another week to rest before the Eagles gear up for three straight road games that could likely determine the fate of their season.
CB Sidney Jones: The third-year player out of Washington has struggled to stay healthy in his time with the Eagles. And once again, he finds himself on the injury report. However, when it comes to his status update heading into the Jets game, his was certainly the most positive of the bunch.
"Sidney's doing well," Pederson said. "He's going to go through walkthrough this morning and then we're going to progress him slowly through the portions of practice as we can. He's kind of day-to-day, but he's doing well."
However, that update on Jones was followed up with a quick update on fellow injured CB Ronald Darby — an update that was so fast you might've missed it if you weren't paying close attention.
"Anytime we lose [Ronald] Darby — Darby's out for a while — and now Sidney's injury, and Jalen [Mills] is working himself back. Cre'Von [LeBlanc] is there," Pederson added. "So we've got some guys that hopefully in the near future we get back. But we'll make it work. You're dealt a 53-man roster and 10 practice squad guys, and Howie does a great job of bringing in talent that we might have to elevate. So it's something that we're working through."
So, to recap, the Eagles might get Jones back this week, but their secondary will continue to be without Mills, Darby, Le'Blanc and possibly one other guy...
CB Avonte Maddox: One of the Eagles most versatile defensive backs, Maddox suffered a scary injury late in last Thursday night's win over the Packers when he was hit in the head by his own teammate, Andrew Sendejo. Maddox was down for quite some time before being taken off on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital. Fortunately, Maddox was deemed healthy enough to return to Philly on the team flight and was diagnosed with a neck sprain and a concussion.
According to Pederson, Maddox is "doing well" but remains in the league's concussion protocol. Given the severity of the injury, coupled with the fact that he also suffered a neck sprain, it wouldn't be shocking to see Maddox miss the Jets game as he rehabs. Of course, Pederson didn't close the door on the possibility of him playing, but it seems like the wise move would be to let him rest for a week, even given all the team's other injuries in the secondary.
UPDATE: Here's a look at who was, and wasn't, at Eagles practice on Wednesday:
Jeff also noted that Jalen Mills was on a separate field working out.
UPDATE 2.0: Here's a look at the Eagles official injury report for Wednesday...
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