McLeod done, plan to replace him not so much
PHILADELPHIA » Everyone around the Eagles subscribed to the reported opinion that safety Rodney McLeod is through for the season, after he had surgery to repair what was believed to be a ruptured medial collateral ligament in his right knee Thursday.
Then again, coach Doug Pederson wasn’t issuing a definitive medical opinion on McLeod one way or another Friday.
“I can confirm that he did have surgery,” Pederson said, “but out of respect for Rodney, I’m not going to get into the details of the surgery.”
Pederson added the decision to place McLeod on the Injured Reserve list “still hasn’t been made.
“Still can’t say,” Pederson summarized.
If indeed done for the year, it’s likely McLeod had some damage beyond the MCL. Either way, the damage is already done to the Eagles’ depth. The Birds will go with veteran bubble player Corey Graham, 33, who was mostly used in nickel situations but will be working with veteran free safety Malcolm Jenkins in a variety of defensive sets now.
“We’ve played together the whole year,” Jenkins said of Graham. “Plenty of packages. I think it’s just a matter of understanding what he’s comfortable with and what I’m comfortable with; each other’s strengths and things like that. I don’t think it’ll take long.”
Better not, since the depth is not good now. Deiondre Hall is the immediate backup, but special teamer and deep safety sub Chris Maragos is on injured reserve. It’s likely Pederson will be looking to acquire another safety at some point soon, either from the practice squad, from outside, or from both.
“We’re looking. It’s not like we’re not,” Pederson said. “Whatever we decide with Rodney moving forward, we’re going to constantly look . ... If we can add depth at the position, we will. We’re comfortable with who we have now currently on the roster and we’re going into this game with that.”
Saying he discussed this with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Pederson added, “We’ve got options back there, obviously, moving some guys around. We have a plan and we’re comfortable with what we’ve got.” So too, Jenkins. “I don’t think we’ll try to replace Rodney with just one guy and give somebody Rodney’s role,” Jenkins said. “I think based on the personnel packages you can roll in a number of guys; it can be week to week, formation to formation, package to package, whatever those matchups are. Obviously we cross-trained a lot of guys and made sure we’re fine.”
••• A year after famously donating his entire Eagles base salary to charity, Chris Long has announced a commitment to donate another large chunk of money to the “Philadelphia’s Read By 4th Campaign,” a joint effort of the Chris Long Foundation and the United Way.
The goal of the effort is to put more books into the hands of kids from under-served neighborhoods by the time they hit the fourth grade.
“We always work with veterans in my Foundation but we wanted to pair the work we’ve done elsewhere with some work that’s really economical and transformative at home,” Long said Friday. “I thought education was a really good way to do it. Last year was such a positive experience with our fans doubling our investment, I thought, let’s do something again. Can we do something even more pointed with literacy?
“A lot of the statistics show that most of the kids that interface with our juvenile system are not reading at (their) grade level . ... Most of our inmates in this country, some 60 percent, are not functioning as literate. Kids that don’t read by that marker at the start of fourth grade, I think, are four times more likely to drop out.”
••• NOTES » Birds running back Darren Sproles (hamstring) was ruled out of this Sunday’s game in Tennessee. And there was little evidence to think positively about fellow running back Jay Ajayi, who has been
out with a fractured bone in his back and again was nowhere to be seen Friday in the locker room. Corey Clement was officially listed as questionable with a quadriceps but he’s the likely starter again . ... As for the Eagles’ other missing weapon, receiver Alshon Jeffery, he didn’t practice Friday but it was said that had more to do with the effects of a virus rather than the shoulder surgery issue that had him sidelined since the offseason. Jeffery had been cleared Wednesday and his status is questionable for Sunday, with Pederson timing out the virus as “a 24-48 hour deal.”