PHILADELPHIA – Coming out of the weight room that is adjacent to the fields at the NovaCare Complex, a familiar sight was wearing a black Eagles “26″ jersey emerged from the white canopy. Last Friday, running back Miles Sanders played the role of observer, watching his teammates inside the indoor practice facility prepare for the Denver Broncos.
This time, Sanders was a participant, testing out the ankle that landed him on injured reserve, causing him to miss the last three weeks. On Wednesday morning, the Eagles activated the 21-day practice window for Sanders.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said that he did not want to rush Sanders back and wanted to see how his ankle responded to the treatment to see if he would suit up for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints.
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“We want to make sure that he’s healthy and ready to go,” Sirianni said. “That’s going to be an ongoing thing throughout the week. “I’ll have more answers for you on Friday with that, but we just want to get him out there and see how he looks tomorrow and the next day.”
The Eagles began emphasizing the run game against the Las Vegas Raiders, handing the ball off to Sanders early and often with reasonable success. Sanders averaged five yards per carry before he injured the ankle and was carted off to the locker room. Since then, Jordan Howard, Boston Scott, and Kenny Gainwell have filled in for Sanders. The trio has had success on the ground, resulting in a rushing average of 208.7 yards per game in the last three weeks.
Sirianni credited general manager Howie Roseman and the front office for bringing in the players who have helped the offense. Sirianni also said the decision of who to play and how to allocate rushing attempts was tough.
“When you have these guys who have been running the ball well, that’s a good problem to have,” Sirianni said. “It speaks to the depth that we have here in the running back room. It was a great job by Howie and his staff for getting the players in here and having depth. We know it’s a long season. It’s a 17 game season. You’re going to have some bumps and bruises throughout the way. It’s important that the guys that step in for the starters are ready to go. I think that Jordan, Boston, and Kenny have done a good job stepping in filling that role with Miles’ absence.”
Here are some other takeaways from Wednesday’s practice:
Goedert remains in the concussion protocol
After taking a knee to the head in Sunday’s game against the Broncos, tight end Dallas Goedert remains in concussion protocol. Goedert was not seen on the field during the portion of practice that was open to the media. If Goedert is not able to go, Tyree Jackson or will step in and start. Stoll had two catches for 6 yards against the Broncos. Jackson is still relatively new to the tight end position but showed he could be a matchup problem between the hash marks.
Change in the practice routine
On Wednesday’s the team typically comes out and has a fully-padded practice to install the beginning of the game plan. However, Sirianni changed the schedule up, switching the period to a walk-through. It was a way to keep the players fresh for Sunday’s game. Linebacker T.J. Edwards said the move could help with the players’ recovery.
“It helps big time, especially coming off a physical game like the last one we had,” Edwards said. “It was awesome for Coach to give us a day off to let our bodies heal. Today is still a working day. We have a couple of walk-throughs. We will have to be disciplined in our practices because we have a really good team coming in next week.”
Fletcher Cox, Davion Taylor miss practice
Even though the Eagles had a walk-through, there were still a couple of players who did not take part in it. Besides Goedert, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (rest) and linebacker Davion Taylor (knee) were sidelined Wednesday. Linebacker Shaun Bradley (shoulder), defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (shoulder), right tackle Lane Johnson (rest player), center Jason Kelce (rest) and safety Rodney McLeod (knee) were limited in role. The Taylor injury will be something to watch. Taylor has played well after seeing extended minutes on the field, showing off the athleticism that put him on the Eagles’ draft radar last season.
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