Let’s turn back the clock to a much simpler time; July 8th to be precise. It was the NFL offseason and Darren Sproles had written an article on his own website declaring that he was going to play one more year and fans were elated. One of the best dual threat backs in history who had three pro bowl years with the Eagles was going to end his career on a high, just as he deserves. After having the carpet ripped from under his feet last year with an injury, meaning he watched his teams win Super Bowl 52 from the sidelines, Sproles would be back for one last rodeo before hanging up the boots.
Or so we thought.
The Eagles stayed loyal to Sproles, but things got murky. In fact, every running back during training camp ended up missing time for some reason or another and preseason was almost a roulette each week. There was a sense of comfort however, that Sproles would be a key part of the Eagles backfield moving forward.
Then, the season opener arrived and Darren Sproles picked up what was thought to be a small hamstring injury. Prior to that, it was clear the 35-year old had some rust to shake off. One one hand, he surpassed Steve Smith Sr. (19,180) for the 7th-most all-purpose yards in NFL history and on the other, had five carries for 10 yards and four receptions for 22 yards.
Doug Pederson was insistent on bringing back the veteran and it’s easy to see why with such an illustrious career behind him and a simply explosive 2016 campaign under the Super Bowl champion Head Coach. But as the weeks passed by, the mystery surrounding the injury grew and as it did, the need for that roster spot rose with it.
Timmy Jernigan, Jay Ajayi, Rodney McLeod, Haloti Ngata, Sidney Jones, Corey Graham, Mike Wallace, Mack Hollins, Richard Rodgers. Those are just SOME of the names who have been out with injury during this time, leaving the Eagles extremely light on depth in key areas.
As the trade deadline approached, would the Eagles make a move? Would they trade for a star running back while they struggled to balance the offense with Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement? Would it be a wide receiver after taking weeks to find any kind of production that was close to last year, instead of just Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz dominating targets? Would they trade for a DT after the Eagles lost 3 to injury, leaving Fletcher Cox to carry the load for the majority of each game along with undrafted free agents?
They eventually opted to trade for Golden Tate, but nine weeks of rest would’ve been enough time for Sproles to head to IR before returning later, freeing up a much needed roster spot for a name like DeVante Bausby, Braxton Miller or at times Bruce Hector. Alternatively, there were plenty of names on the street not named Dexter McDougle who could’ve stepped in and produced.
So, when Darren Sproles finally does return from injury, the Eagles don’t have a roster spot. To make room, it makes sense that they waive the man filling those shoes, DeAndre Carter, a man averaging 10.3 yards per punt return which was good enough to rank inside the top 10 this season. Fans hissed at this decision and in a bitter twist of fate, it was announced that Darren Sproles had re-aggravated that same hamstring injury and would miss time again. By this point, Carter had been snapped up by the Texans.
Do you overload Golden Tate, a receiver who is already trying to get the playbook down and familiarize himself with the offense? Do you give Agholor a shot, who had four touchdowns in college on punt returns? If the answer is yes, why was he not used sooner? Shelton Gibson, Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood, none of these names stand out as a player who would be suited to the role full-time in relief of Carter or Sproles. If they bring a name in off the street, then they’re almost bound to cut Sproles or send him to IR.
The Eagles are now in a total mess when it comes to selecting their punt return specialist, but it’s their own fault. This loyalty to a player who has given so much to the franchise has been prioritized over freeing up a roster spot for a need that was far more pressing, or better yet, to step in in the wake of Sproles. Nobody will ever really know what went on with the Eagles medical staff or why Sproles had gone from being ‘close’ to ‘week to week’ to ‘doing well’ within the space of a month. It was all kept very quiet but at 35-years old, what did we really expect?
Darren Sproles has 71 rushing yards and 95 receiving yards in his last five games for the Eagles. He just hasn’t been that electric playmaker his once was and maybe it’s time to admit that Father Time has caught up to one of the greatest dual-threat backs to ever play the game.
Of course, it would’ve been a fairytale engine for the future hall of famer to end his tenure in midnight green on the field in another Super Bowl, but in nine weeks of football, he hasn’t even made the field and a reluctance to wake up and smell the Bacon has debatably cost this team a piece that could’ve lifted some of the weight from the likes of Fletcher Cox, Avonte Maddox and a supporting cast of running backs.
It’s frankly bizarre for a team as well buttoned up as the Eagles to allow a personal relationship and sense of loyalty to an aging back battling an injury get in the way of some very loud alarm bells. It’s roster mismanagement, plain and simple…but now the team will pay for that negligence by either exposing Golden Tate to a ferocious special teams opposition in a heated rivalry game, or playing a returner with even less recent experience.
There’s not much that the front office can do other than learn from this moving forward. He isn’t the only veteran on the team being constantly hounded by injury…but that’s for another article.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
