Eagles open preseason with a long injury list
The Eagles will open their preseason schedule Thursday without 10 players, including four projected starters. Coach Doug Pederson announced Tuesday that left tackle Jason Peters, safety Malcolm Jenkins, wide receiver Jordan Matthews, linebacker Mychal Kendricks, defensive linemen Mike Martin and Marcus Smith, running back Wendell Smallwood, and receivers Hunter Sharp and Marcus Johnson will all be sidelined with injuries suffered during training camp.
The Eagles will open their preseason schedule Thursday without 10 players, including four projected starters.
Coach Doug Pederson announced Tuesday that left tackle Jason Peters, safety Malcolm Jenkins, wide receiver Jordan Matthews, linebacker Mychal Kendricks, defensive linemen Mike Martin and Marcus Smith, running back Wendell Smallwood, and receivers Hunter Sharp and Marcus Johnson will all be sidelined with injuries suffered during training camp.
Peters, who has a quadriceps injury, will be in uniform and will go through warm-ups with the team so the training staff can gauge his health leading into next week. Matt Tobin will start at left tackle in Peters' place.
Nelson Agholor and Chris Givens will be the top wide receivers with Matthews out of the lineup because of a knee injury. Rueben Randle and Josh Huff will also mix in with the starters. Pederson said Matthews' injury is a bone bruise, which is consistent with the claim that there's no structural damage. The injury is not as serious as Pederson worried it would be when he saw it live.
"It looked bad on tape once I watched it on film," Pederson said. "It looked worse than what I initially thought out here on the field. So, it's definitely one now that is day-to-day. There is no structural damage in there, which is definitely pleasing because on tape it looked like it could have been."
Najee Goode will start at linebacker in place of Kendricks, who has a hamstring injury. Pederson did not sound concerned about Kendricks, labeling the injury "very, very mild." He expects Kendricks back at practice on Saturday.
At safety, Chris Maragos and Jaylen Watkins will get the early snaps in place of Jenkins, who also has a hamstring injury. Maragos and Watkins will rotate in the spot opposite Rodney McLeod. Ed Reynolds, who has taken first-team snaps this summer, will be available to play the whole game.
Both Caleb Sturgis and Cody Parkey will kick on Thursday. Darren Sproles will not return punts while the Eagles evaluate other options. Kenjon Barner, who has a quadriceps injury, will be the top punt returner if he's able to play. Undrafted rookie Paul Turner will also get some work. Huff, Barner, rookie running back Byron Marshall, and wide receiver T.J. Graham are in line for kickoff returns.
The starters and second-teamers will play the first half, but the playing time will depend on how the starters fare in their opening drives. Carson Wentz will come in with the third-team offense to start the third quarter, and the deep reserves will play the second half.
Also, Pederson revealed that he will call the plays directly to the quarterback. During the spring and summer, he said he would relay the plays to offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who would then call it in to the quarterback.
Pederson will script the plays to start the first half and the second half on Thursday, so he'll see Sam Bradford and Wentz run pre-planned plays.
Thursday will be Pederson's first time on the sideline as an NFL head coach. He wants to see how his teams performs against a different opponent, and is hoping they can come away without injuries. He also expects a restless Wednesday night.
"Just kind of keyed up for it and just looking forward [to it]," Pederson said. "There are a lot of things that have to go on between now and then with the planning and scheduling. Just sort of the detailing, even with the players, kind of just managing them. But at the same time, I know personally, it might be a restless night."
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