Sproles’d!

A week of feeling good came to a crashing halt.

After Philadelphia HC Doug Pederson said he expected Darren Sproles to play Sunday vs the Cowboys, the Eagles’ veteran RB went to practice and aggravated his hamstring injury, and now is expected to be sidelined, per sources. Sproles was highly disappointed, as were the Eagles.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 8, 2018

Ugh.

This is especially tough since the Eagles already let go of DeAndre Carter, who had been the team’s RS in recent weeks.

The Eagles rolled the dice on Sproles and came up craps.

So what will happen at PR and KOR? This isn’t 2007. The Eagles do have some options. Golden Tate, Nelson Agholor and Corey Clement all have PR experience. Tate, Agholor, Clement and Wendell Smallwood all have KOR experience. They can handle a short absence.

The Eagles ought to strongly consider finding a RS. Can you really trust Sproles hamstring at this point?

I do think we have to be careful about making too much of losing Carter. It was a lot of fun to see him carve out a role in the NFL and do a good job, but he wasn’t special. This wasn’t a player you absolutely wanted on your team for the next five years. There wasn’t much of a role for him on offense. He was a good PR, but didn’t show much as a KOR.

I’ll be pulling for Carter to create an NFL career for himself, but small guys that are quicker than fast are a dime a dozen. He’s got an uphill battle.

It is fair to question whether the Eagles should just put Sproles on IR at this point. Again, can you really trust him? Even if he practices next week and is able to play against the Saints, you’ll always be wondering if the hamstring is going to get re-injured. This will make for a tough discussion between Doug Pederson, Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas. They all love Sproles and have great respect for him, but at some point, you have to move on.

It is fair to question the Eagles medical staff. They made some changes in the offseason and this team has had a lot of injury issues. That might not have a thing to do with the new staff, but it is absolutely worth checking out.

We all wanted Jason Peters and Darren Sproles to go out with a great final season. That hasn’t been the case for either guy. Father Time isn’t sentimental. He let Donnie Jones and Brent Celek go out on top, but they were exceptions, not the rule. As we’re seeing this year, when it comes to football, it rarely ends well.

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One move the team could make.

If the Eagles claim Tyler Ervin off waivers today — he's the RB/RS that the Texans waived yesterday to make room for DeAndre Carter — I feel like that would be an upgrade for the Eagles. Ervin is a solid PR, actually can fair catch, and is a pass catching RB type.

— Sam Lynch (@shlynch) November 8, 2018

Donnel Pumphrey is also a possibility, but do you really want to experiment with him as you are trying to claw your way into the postseason?

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Just how critical is this game?

Eagles currently have a 60% chance of making the playoffs, per ESPN FPI. Swings to 70 percent with a win over Dallas, ⬇️ 35% with a loss.

— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) November 8, 2018

The Eagles could be in first place in the division if they beat Dallas and the Bucs beat the Skins.

The Eagles could shovel some dirt on the Cowboys’ season as well. A loss would drop them to 3-6 and all but finish them.

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While Dallas has the 3rd ranked scoring defense in the NFL, and have mostly played well, it's also worth pointing out that they have faced the 11th, 14th, 17th, 20th, 25th, 27th, 29th, and 29th scoring offenses in the NFL this year.

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) November 8, 2018

This game will tell us a lot about the Dallas defense and the Philly offense.

Dallas played in a critical game on Monday night. They gave up 28 points (more than the Eagles have allowed all year). The Titans were an amazing 11 for 14 on 3rd downs.

The Eagles have scored 24 or more in two of the past three games. It feels like the offense is ready to come alive. Now you add in Golden Tate. The offense better put up more than 17 or 20 or 21 points.

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