Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
Heading into their week six match-up against the Detroit Lions, the Philadelphia Eagles are completely healthy. The official injury report had all players as full practice participants, with no one questionable for Sunday’s game.
So that’s great, right?
Not quite, since there are quite a few players who probably won’t play for the rest of this season: left tackle Jason Peters, center Jason Kelce, and defensive tackle Mike Patterson (illness). All three were starters, and Peters is probably the best player on the entire team.
Never have I seen a team so unusually affected by injuries. It’s truly all or nothing.
The Eagles have 22 starters on offense and defense. Left tackle King Dunlap missed a couple of starts due to injuries, as did linebacker Akeem Jordan. But you could argue that those are the two worst starters on the team. Dunlap isn’t even a real starter in the first place, and Jordan was only named a starter near the end of the preseason, after many predicted him to not even make the team in the first place.
Among the top 20 starters on the team in terms of ability level, only wide receiver Jeremy Maclin missed even a game due to injuries this season. That was against the Arizona Cardinals, when Maclin was sidelined with a hip pointer that had been affecting him the previous week.
But nobody else has been hurt. It’s incredible.
Usually there’s a nagging calf injury for Trent Cole, or a pair of broken ribs for Michael Vick, or a hamstring injury to one of the safeties. I could go on and on.
Even with the injuries to Peters and Kelce, and the non-football injury to Patterson, the Eagles have been blessed with players missing time this season.
Now they need to take advantage and start winning football games against inferior teams who have been weakened by injuries.
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