The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Head coach would welcome roster help
“We are constantly looking. If we can add value and if we can add talent anywhere on the team, we are going to look at that. Howie is going to look at that. And so, we’ll see. We have a little bit of time here over the next couple of days. If it values the Eagles and helps us win games, we’ll see.” – Eagles coach Doug Pederson
PHILADELPHIA >> One year ago, the Eagles celebrated the NFL’s Halloween trade deadline by acquiring running back Jay Ajayi from the Miami Dolphins.
It was a significant supplemental move for an Eagles offense then running on all cylinders, for a team preparing for a long playoff run. Even the most ardent of Philadelphia football historians probably didn’t envision a Super Bowl parade then (no matter what they say now), but the Eagles may not have made such a dream come true without Ajayi adding to their backfield depth — then and now suffering by an injury to Darren Sproles.
Now it’s Ajayi out for the season with a knee injury. And Sproles still out since the preseason with what by now has to be the slowest recovering hamstring strain of all time.
The presumption seems to be that when the NFL’s preMischief Night trade deadline tolls at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Eagles boss Howie Roseman will be unveiling another trade model to help run his football club to great postseason heights. Yet this year’s Eagles model is a weaker, thinner, more fragile unit than
of a year ago. So Roseman, who sort of fleeced the Dolphins by acquiring Ajayi for only a fourthround pick, may find himself in need of making a decision.
Is this year’s Eagles team good enough to warrant improvement through what could be a costlier trade maneuver?
Only Doug Pederson, standing a slight bit taller behind his podium at the NovaCare Palace Monday, a day after a 24-18 sigh of relief victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in jolly ol’ London, could only do so much as offer a hint.
“I’m very confident and comfortable with the guys we have,” Pederson said when asked about the looming deadline. “I’m very confident in those guys and in this group.” And then... “We are constantly looking,” he quickly added. “If we can add value and if we can add talent anywhere on the team, we are going to look at that. Howie is going to look at that. And so, we’ll see. We have a little bit of time here over the next couple of days. If it values the Eagles and helps us win games, we’ll see.”
It’s easy to see the Eagles need help.
Start at running back, there will be continued questions about whether 22-year-old Central Bucks South product Josh Adams has the stuff to warrant more work in the Eagles’ backfield. He certainly made a case for himself in London, rushing nine times for 61 yards, helping chew up time in the second half.
For a guy who started the year on the practice squad, Adams is looking like a redo of what local kid Corey Clement (Glassboro High) did last season, coming out of nowhere to become a significant rookie contributor in the backfield. Adams shapes up to be part of a youthful, three-man local running back committee with Wilmington, Del. native Wendall Smallwood and Clement, at least until (or if) Sproles is healthy enough for action.
Thus when asked if a trade deadline search could be enhanced by interest in a go-to veteran running back like a Le’Veon Bell or even the haunting LeSean McCoy, Pederson said, “I think we have that guy.
“I called a few more third-and-two, third-andthree runs that we converted, and of course Josh was in the game at the time,” Pederson said. “Wendell had some tough runs. He had a tough run at the end of the game to ice the game, basically. So, we’re very comfortable. Corey is another one that can get us those yards. And really, a lot of that starts up front. I thought our offensive line blocked extremely well against a tremendous front (in) Jacksonville.” Well, since he went there... Pederson went nowhere as far updating the injury situation for Lane Johnson, who went out early in the Jaguars game with a knee injury and stayed out. Jason Peters also missed time, but hobbled back in to play the opposite side tackle as Pederson and Company did some shifting with fill-ins Isaac Seumalo, Stefen Wisniewski and Halapoulivaati Vaitai.
If Johnson misses any amount of time it will hurt the Eagles, simply because he’s that good. Presumably the question of whether Roseman looks at perhaps adding to his offensive line depth will be largely determined by the outcome of Johnson’s prognosis.
Not so at receiver, however, as the Eagles are thought to be looking for someone to help stretch opposing secondaries. Then again, they could get some internal help, as Pederson said wide receiver Mack Hollins “is there” with his groin issue recovery.
He should be one of the Eagles’ two allowable recalls from injured reserve, probably in time for the team’s season resumption Nov. 11 against Dallas.
“You’ve got to look at it a little bit from an injury standpoint, because we have missed some guys during the first part of the season,” Pederson said of the Eagles’ increasing personnel needs. “But I don’t think that’s the sole purpose for making a move. I think it has to be the right person, it has to be a character fit and it has to fit what we do offensively. And if it values us and helps us win games, then we will stay aggressive that way. That has always been our mindset.”
As for any moves to bolster a defense harmed greatly by a recent seasonending shoulder injury to Derek Barnett, Pederson didn’t seem to have any hints about that. But he seems amenable to any additional help by the Tuesday deadline, so long as such an acquisition or three can meet the aforementioned criteria.
Standing at 4-4 with the Redskins on a three-game win streak, the Cowboys lying in wait and a schedule that offers NFC East opponents in four of the Eagles’ next five games, however, you get the idea Roseman might look past a character issue or three if he has the chance to make a deal he knows will improve his team.
Then again, what kind of move can be made to greatly enhance this limping, lagging team’s chances of a championship repeat? That’s probably not a question Doug Pederson wants to address as he prepares to take a week’s vacation with his players. And it won’t alter the bottom-line challenge that will be waiting for them when they get back.
“We just have to keep improving,” Pederson said. “We have to get better. Hopefully, we get some guys back healthy in this second