September 12, 2016
It wasn't immediately followed with a "Time's yours," but like his mentor Andy Reid, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson didn't waste any time Monday afternoon before providing an injury update on two players who were banged up in the team's season-opening 29-10 win over the Browns.
CB Leodis McKelvin, who left the game with a hamstring strain, will start the week sitting out of practice. He hasn't been ruled out for the team's upcoming Monday Night Football game against the Bears and is considered week to week, according to the first-year coach.
If McKelvin can't go, Pederson said he and Howie Roseman will discuss possible roster moves, including a potential call to practice squad cornerback C.J. Smith.
TE Zach Ertz's status for Week 2 is also up in the air after he suffered a rib injury on Sunday.
"Zach Ertz has -- it's on his left shoulder -- a first rib displacement and he's also week to week," said Pederson, who added that they need to see how the two progress through the week before he would speculate on their status for Monday night.
"A displacement is not a broken bone at all," he added. "It just means that the rib has displaced itself underneath the collarbone. But it's not a fracture or a broken bone."
Considering Ertz (6 receptions, 58 yards) finished the game and didn't seem to be in too much pain in the locker room following the win, it was somewhat surprising to hear that Ertz could be sidelined next week. In fact, he played most of the game hurt.
"[The injury to Ertz] happened in the first quarter on their sideline," Pederson explained. "He caught a pass -- it wasn't the one-handed catch -- but he caught a ball kind of left to right and turned up the sideline right on the boundary and went to protect himself by lowering his shoulder and he took a direct blow on his left shoulder."
Here's a look at the play in question:
"We knew when he came off, right away when he came off after that series," he continued. "[Trainer Chris] Peduzzi came and said, 'Hey, he's got a left shoulder sprain.' We could tell that at the time. But as the game wore on, I didn't know anything was more serious than that."
So if it came down to it, could Ertz play through the injury again? Probably not a good idea.
"He's probably going to have to be cleared [by team doctors]," Pederson added. "It's a dangerous situation with a displaced bone. There's a lot of, you know, now you're talking around the neck and head area, so any type of blow again could do further damage. That's why it's a week to week deal, to see how it heals and recovers."
We'll have more throughout the week on the status of both Ertz and McKelvin.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin
