Seeing old team should get a rise out of Howard
PHILADELPHIA >> Jordan Howard will be an extra captain when the Eagles exchange handshakes Sunday before the coin flip with the Chicago Bears.
That’s when the adrenaline will kick in for the 2016 fifth-round draft pick of the Bears. That’s when it will hit him.
Howard rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons and 935 yards the third. For that he was shipped to the Eagles for a sixth-round draft pick.
Yet he brought the run game with him to Philly. He’s rushed for 443 yards and five touchdowns with the Eagles. That’s more yards and touchdowns than David Montgomery and Cordarrelle Patterson, the Bears’ top two rushers, collectively.
“I don’t need to prove myself to anybody,” Howard said Friday. “I don’t need any validation from anybody. I’m my own worst critic. I don’t care what anybody else says.”
It’s still difficult to believe there was no room for Howard with the Bears.
Howard has seven rushes of 15 or more yards this season, ninth-most among running backs. Eagles running back have 403 yards up the middle this season largely due to Howard. Even when rookie Miles Sanders broke a 65yard scoring run in a twoback offense last week, it was Howard who supplied the key block. And yeah, Sanders won’t complain if the Eagles play more twoback and make the Bears tackle them this week.
Surely, Howard told the guys in the running backs room how badly he wanted to defeat the Bears.,
“No, he doesn’t talk, man,” Sanders said. “It’s his old team. Everybody knows that. He’s the extra captain this week, too, so it’s a big week for him. But that’s about it for him. It’s just another game for him.”
Doug Pederson, the master of coach speak, says he hasn’t noticed anything different about Howard’s preparation or focus this week. But Pederson intimated it could be a big week for the Bears expatriate.
“He’s had a good week of practice and I know he’ll be excited to see some of his teammates and friends,” Pederson said. “But at the same time, once it’s teed up, it’s football and he’ll be ready.”
Howard is in the last year of his rookie contract. He’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
If the Eagles want Howard, he’ll be happy to oblige.
“I would love to be back,” Howard said. “I’m loving Philly and I’d definitely love to be back. I’m loving my teammates and the city so I’d definitely love to be back.”