Three Eagles backups who must step up against the New York Jets in wake of injuries
By Brenden Peddigree
The Philadelphia Eagles will be squaring off against the New York Jets on Sunday afternoon for their first non-nationally televised of the season. The Eagles are coming off back-to-back embarrassments against the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys.
It is needless to say that all 45 active members of the team must step up and perform better than they have in their first two games. However, given the injuries suffered in the Eagles front seven against the Cowboys, three players will be called upon even more than they regularly are week-to-week.
Linebackers Kiko Alonso and Mychal Kendricks will most likely be out on Sunday, Alonso with a partial ACL tear and Kendricks with a hamstring injury. Defensive lineman Cedric Thornton will also be out with a broken right hand.
Here are three who must fill in for their out-of-service teammates.
Linebacker Najee Goode was re-signed Tuesday morning. Goode was an important member of the Eagles defense in 2013, playing in 14 games while starting one.
Now, Goode will be filling in for Kendricks. With Marcus Smith missing the Eagles first two games recovering from an injury, Goode will be called upon to step in and help take snaps at linebacker to avoid Ryans being overworked.
Ryans is being held back as he recovers from his Achilles injury.
Kendricks has played very well so far in the run game and if the Eagles defense hopes to continue the success they’ve had thus far, Goode will need a seamless transition into regular playing time.
Goode knows the Eagles defense and was clearly at the top of the call list for the Eagles when they needed to bring a player back. He will be taking a roster spot from offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde, whose release was his 12th transaction with the team.
Jordan Hicks
Hicks was the immediate solution for the Eagles on Sunday when Alonso and Kendricks left the game. He filled in impressively to the tune of seven tackles and a sack-fumble.
Hicks was the Eagles third round pick in May and was immediately thought of as a depth signing and a future prospect to take over for Ryans when he hangs up the cleats. Surprisingly, he is being called upon to fill in for the other two inside linebackers not named Ryans.
As a third rounder, he is being called upon sooner than expected but could prove to be an impressive backup. All signs in his first game have pointed to this being the case.
He has endeared himself to many Eagles and Cowboys-opponents fans as he injured Tony Romo and benched him for the next eight weeks with his first career sack. The play also put the Eagles in a position to come within striking distance of the Cowboys late in the game, only to be coughed up by Sam Bradford on the next play.
Hicks plays a lot like Ryans, who Hicks has used as a mentor. It will be interesting to see how the teacher and the student play next to each other.
Allen was a seventh round pick in 2014 and has become a solid player for the Eagles. It started in the preseason as Allen tallied ten tackles, eight of which came against the Jets in the preseason finale.
Now, Allen has appeared in the regular season in situational roles and has played very well. He was a key member of the Eagles goal line defense that held the Cowboys to a field goal after three attempts from the one yard line, including snatching running back Julius Randle out of the air on his line of scrimmage high jump attempt.
Allen will be filling in for Cedric Thornton as he recovers from a broken right hand. There has been no guarantee that Allen will get the nod as the starter on Sunday but given his recent success, there is no reason why he shouldn’t be the guy.
Fletcher Cox also sat out of practice on Tuesday with an unknown injury. There has been no indication that he will miss Sunday but it is something to keep an eye on.
If Allen can play anything like he has in his situational roles, there will be no fall off from Thornton to him. The Eagles run defense has been good so far in 2015 and Allen can be an important piece to keeping that going, as a starter on Sunday or as a situational player when Thornton returns.
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