Birds plan to make a detour around Florence
The short trip to Tampa to play the Buccaneers Sunday could get a lot longer for the Eagles.
Head coach Doug Pederson said Friday the Eagles will fly to avoid the danger of Hurricane Florence, which is pounding the East coast, by flying inland before circling back south.
“It’s flying around it more than anything,” Pederson said. “Obviously it’s a wide storm and it’s pretty high, pretty tall. So you can’t go over it so we’re going to have to go a little further west, I believe, and then come back around. Just safety for everybody, making sure that everybody arrives there safely.”
Injured Eagles running back and punt returner Darren Sproles won’t be available for the game.
Sproles sustained what Pederson called “a slight hamstring” issue during the Thursday practice.
“He just missed the day,” Pederson said.
Sproles also didn’t practice Friday.
He has had tough luck since joining the Eagles. He’s played just one complete season in five years with the team, in 2015, his second year.
Sproles, 35, fractured an arm and tore an ACL on the same play in the third game of the 2017 season.Sproles accumulated 61 all-purpose yards on 12 touches in the Eagles’ 18-12 win over the Falcons last week to move into sixth all-time in the NFL with 19,216 yards.
Sproles trails only Jerry Rice (23,546), Brian Mitchell (23,330), Walter Payton (21,803), Emmitt Smith (21,564) and Tim Brown (19,682). All but Mitchell are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Quarterback Carson Wentz (knee) and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (shoulder) also are listed as out on the injury report.
Pederson said wide receiver and kickoff returner Shelton Gibson, listed as questionable, practiced fully Friday despite sitting out the previous day’s practice with an ailing quadriceps.
“He should be fine,” Pederson said. “Again, we’ll make that determination after practice.”
The fallback return options at punt return are Corey Clement and rookie wide receiver DeAndre Carter.
The good injury news is that wide receiver Alshon Jeffery has “looked good” in the individual drills, per Pederson, although he still hasn’t been cleared for contact, and he practiced on a limited basis along with Wentz.
The Eagles also don’t anticipate being challenged by the hurricane.
“I think we’ll have to go around it rather than go through it,” offensive tackle Lane Johnson said. “Hopefully I’m going to sleep on the plane. Get a few hours in there.”