A total of 25 Eagles players suffered an injury of some kind last year, prompting the team to shuffle their medical staff. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.
It was announced today that veteran RB Darren Sproles will miss the remainder of the season with a quadricep injury and this will likely mean an unfortunate end to what has been a dazzling career.
This explains why former Eagles RB has been brought in for a workout, but it doesn’t make the saddening end to the career of a player who ranks fifth in the NFL’s all-time all-purpose yards ranking, any easier to stomach.
To make matters worse, this comes just a bye-week after the Eagles lost DeSean Jackson for what looks to be the remainder of the regular season. The 32-year old WR played in 4 snaps against the Bears and that was enough to rip his previously torn muscle from the bone and put an end to his 2019 regular season campaign…having played in one game and a flash of a second.
This begs a couple of questions.
1.Were the Eagles wrong to sign so many veteran players?
Zach Brown – cut.
L.J Fort – cut.
Andew Sendejo – cut.
Vinny Curry – Clinging onto a roster spot
Ronald Darby – missed half the season
Timmy Jernigan – missed five weeks
Malik Jackson – Season-ending injury.
DeSean Jackson – Season-ending injury.
Darren Sproles – Season-ending injury.
Yeah, the 2019 free-agent class really isn’t looking pretty right now and many of these players are veterans. There were some concerns by fans about the team getting older, and seeing the seasons of Jackson and Sproles ended prematurely is only going to see that discussion snowball.
2. More medical staff changes?
Cluster injuries have plagued the Eagles again this year. It took half a season for the secondary to recover from the wounds it suffered last year, while defensive tackle has been hit hard for the second consecutive season.
Fans endured weeks of seeing D-Jax labeled ‘day-to-day’ and ‘week-to-week’ with encouraging signs about his progress being emphasized by the Eagles Head Coach. But, it ended in a predictable and frustrating fashion, as we now all know.
Again, you’d think coming off a season where close to half the roster picked up an injury of some kind would put a real emphasis on ensuring soft-tissue injuries like sprains and stingers are dealt with in a way where the chances of recurrence is minimal. Instead, we’re seeing the opposite.
It’s really had to pinpoint the reasons why and who is at fault, but whether it’s Doctor or Patient if a hospital has a track-record of patients returning with the injuries over and over after surgery, questions are bound to be asked.
The Eagles were supposed to come back healthier than ever after the Bye.
Their number one receiver hasn’t practiced this week, they’re down one running back and another also hasn’t practiced this week, and questions surrounding this medical staff are becoming more intense than ever.
Will we see more medical staff changes this offseason? Don’t write it off.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
