Birds’ win comes at a heavy injury cost
PHILADELPHIA » In a physical affair that brought back memories of the 1990 Body Bag game, the Eagles lost starters Jordan Hicks and Jason Peters indefinitely in their 34-24 win over the Redskins Monday.
Hicks went down in the first half with what was announced as an ankle injury.
Peters hurt his knee on the first possession of the third quarter.
Both were carted off the field. Both injuries appear significant, according to a team source.
“To lose a guy of that caliber, who means so much to this team is not good for us,” offensive tackle Lane Johnson said of Peters, the inspirational leader of the line. “If you stay down for a long period of time, usually it means something serious. We’ll see what’s going on as far as tomorrow and how he feels, and hope for the best. I think we showed some resiliency. Once we got locked in and rolling I think we did decent. We’ve got San Francicisco next week. It’s next opponent up.”
Peters was fitted with an air cast and carted off the field after his lower leg was pinned under the body of Redskins defensive tackle Ziggy Hood. Just about every Eagle came out onto the field to surround the cart as Peters was being removed. He has started 166 games over 14 seasons and is a nine-time Pro Bowler.
As for the Redskins, they had an injury blow when Eagles defensive end Derrick Barnett rammed into the back of guard Brandon Scherff, forcing possibly the best player on the Redskins to the sideline. Broadcast analyst Jon Gruden criticized the officials for failing to call a penalty.
Scherff returned for the next series but exited later with an injured knee.
Barnett attoned for that play with a couple of sacks of Kirk Cousins.
*** Qurterbacks are an obsession with Jon Gruden, the ESPN analyst and Super Bowl winning head coach.
Gruden not only brought five quarterbacks to training camp in 2008 with the Buccaneers, he tried to make Brett Favre the sixth. He was around a pretty good quarterback in Randall Cunningham during his three-year stint as offensive coordinator of the Eagles in the mid1990s.
When Gruden thinks of current Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, he sees a slice of Cunningham.
“His athleticism, strength in the pocket and scrambling ability is underestimated,” Gruden said of Wentz. “He avoids a lot of negative plays. He avoids sacks and hits. And he avoids bad plays by being able to get out of the rush. He reminds me of Randall Cunningham the way he’s scrambling. He’s won a couple of games with that ability alone.”
Wentz’s problem-solving aptitude blew Gruden away in his pre-draft Quarterback Camp. Gruden says it’s improved.
“He’s made some great changes at the line of scrimmage,” Gruden said. “He’s fixed protections. He’s handsignaled routes. He’s doing a lot at the line of scrimmage in year two of being in this system.
“He’s handling a ton of football. He can audible at the line; change passes to runs and runs to passes. He competes like crazy and he is perfect for Philadelphia.”
Gruden enjoys every trip back to Philadelphia, where he led the Bucs to the last football victory ever at Veterans Stadium in 2002 on the way to a Super Bowl title.
“I love doing games in Philadelphia,” Gruden said. “I have a lot of friends there and the fans are as good as anywhere in the country. You saw what they did for the draft. I wish we could go back. If you watch the NFL Draft, you know what football is all about in Philadelphia.”
*** Outside the Linc Monday night were demonstrations supporting quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has been unable to get a job, as well as a group opposing the use of “Redskins,” interpreting it as a racial slur.
Not a ton of demonstrators but enough for Philly’s finest to stick around to ensure their safety.
The national anthem was a moving experience. It was done by trumpeter Jessie McGuire, while Eagles fans sang.
*** The Eagles inducted kicker David Akers into their Hall of Fame during a special onfield ceremony.
Akers kicked for the Birds from 1999-2010, making 294 of 357 field goal attempts and scoring a club-record 1,323 points. Akers also kicked for the Redskins
Rookie Jake Elliott is the fourth Eagles kicker since Akers exited seven years ago.
The list of Akers’ successors includes Alex Henery (2011-13), Cody Parkey (201415) and Caleb Sturgis (201517).