Philadelphia Eagles will be without Darren Sproles this week
Philadelphia Eagles running back Darren Sproles hits a roadblock on his way to a comeback season.
The injury bug has gotten the best of the Philadelphia Eagles over the last year now. As significant injuries piled up in 2017, the Eagles had to utilize a robust next-man-up mentality. Well, things are no different in 2018 as the Eagles have to continue hurdling some obstacles to start off the season. It’s not an ideal situation heading into week two, but the Eagles should be okay.
Last week, we saw the return of Jason Peters, Jordan Hicks, and Darren Sproles. All three guys were utilized in a significant way, and it sure looked like their big-time injuries didn’t take a toll on their bodies for this season. It was especially impressive to see a 36-year-old Peters and 35-year-old Sproles out there performing well while this could realistically be there final season.
Unfortunately, Sproles has suffered another setback, though. The good news is that Sproles’ injury concerns have nothing to do with the ACL that he tore or the arm that he broke last season. This time, he is dealing with a hamstring injury that he suffered in practice this past Wednesday. The injury kept him off the field for Thursday and Friday, and after further evaluation, the Eagles are going to roll without No. 43 in the backfield’s rotation this Sunday.
The Eagles will be okay:
There are no worries for the Eagles backfield. A Sproles-less backfield just means more Corey Clement and Jay Ajayi. We could possibly see a little bit more of Wendell Smallwood, but nobody should count on him getting more than a few carries if that. As long as the passing game clicks this week, the Eagles shouldn’t miss Sproles too much as they have a serviceable amount of talent already.
One area where the Eagles could be affected though is the special teams. The Eagles were happy to have Sproles back returning punts, but they will have to replace him once again this week. TSN’s John McMullen reported that the Eagles would store their faith in DeAndre Carter this week to get the job done.
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Carter’s had some decent punt returns in the preseason, which made the decision a little bit easier. Although Clement is also an option, it is doubtful that the Eagles risk any sort of injury to the next guy in line for the backfield. There’s no official timeline on Sproles’ injury, but it doesn’t sound like he will miss too much time. But for now, he will have to wait it out for a week.