Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
As injuries mount, time for backups to step up
Losing playmakers can be a shock to any team’s system.
Then there are the Eagles, who have lost front- line talent so often the past few years the coaches say next, not next man up.
With running back Miles Sanders and tight end Zach Ertz sidelined, the Eagles will look to their benchThursdaywhen they takeon the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field ( 8: 20 p. m., FOX, NFL Network, WIP 94.1- FM).
While both teams are searching for just their second victory of the season, the winner will lead or share the lead in the NFC East.
The Eagles are 1- 4- 1, the Giants 1- 5. The Dallas Cowboys lead the division with a 2- 4 mark.
Sanders ( knee) leads theEagles in rushing, Ertz ( ankle) in receptions.
But Carson Wentz tops the Eagleswith four rushing touchdowns and his new go- to guy, Travis Fulgham, leads the clubwith three TD receptions and a 15.8- yards average per catch.
Sanders and Ertz would help but let’s be rational, the Eagles are playing the Giants, not the Seattle Seahawks. TheEagles also are 5- 0on Thursdays with Doug Pederson at
— Bob Grotz
the helm, including a victory over the Giants.
“They’re both game changers,” Wentz said of Sanders and Ertz. “Not having those guys can obviously make it tough but at the same timeconfidence is high in the guys that are behind them. Boston ( Scott) has done it before. Kind of the same situation last year against New York and how he stepped up. We know what he’s capable of. Richard ( Rodgers) making some plays down the stretch in the last game. He’s going to keep stepping up and doing some good things. So, yeah it does hurt us, it’s tough. But that’s kind of where we’re at in the season. The guys behind them are going to step up and do their jobs.”
The Eagles are coming off a 3028 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in which they were stopped on the two- point try that could have forced overtime.
The Eagles are four- point favorites over the Giants and rookie head coach Joe Judge, who broke the ice with a 20- 19 win over the WashingtonFootball Teamthispastweekend. The Giants stopped Washington on a two- point try with 36 seconds left to prevail.
Rodgers and Jason Croom, the tight endwhowasn’t in the program, caughtaTDpass fromWentztostoke the comeback along with Fulgham.
Wentz’s one- yard run with two minutes remaining got the Eagles within the two- point conversion
The Giants lost one of their best players in Saquon Barkley, who tore up a knee in their second game. As quarterbackDaniel Jones and the defense
go, sogotheGiants andJudge, who was born in Philly, starred at Lansdale Catholic in Montgomery County from 1996- 99 and way back in the day, was an Eagles fan.
“To be honest with you, it’s not my first time going back to Philly as an opposing coach,” Judge told the Trentonian. “It’s a great city. It has great, passionate fans. It’s an excellent team. It’s obviously a great rivalry. I grew up watching these games. They were always tough games, blue collar type games, when the Eagles and the Giants were playing. Again, you’re so focused on the opponent, the emotion doesn’t really get tied into it. We just know we have a heck of a teamwe have tomatch up against.”
The Eagles could roll with their sixth different starting lineup on the offensive line Thursday.
Lane Johnson ( ankle) will be back, but nobody knows for how long. Look for guard Matt Pryor to come off the COVID- 19 list, and
either play right guard or backup at right tackle. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson spoke earlier in the week of playing Sua Opeta at guard.
The Eagles got rid of guard Jamon Brown, who gave up three sacks and eight quarterback hits of Wentz to Calais Campbell in the loss to the Ravens. Brown then was caught on camera posing for a photowithRavens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Badas theNFCEast is, the team that tops it makes the playoffs.
“At the end of the day, take care of the East,” Eagles defensive back Jalen Mills said. “And we do have a big challenge against us. Regardless of each team’s record, ours, New York, or looking forward to Dallas, that week, our games are always, they always come down to the wire. They’re always tough games, man. We’re looking forward to this one for sure, one week at a time. But we know these next couple ofweeks are going to be tough.”