WILL EAGLES HAVE DEEP THREAT SUNDAY?
Jones, Wallace listed as questionable for Sunday
PHILADELPHIA — Getting cornerback Sidney Jones back and being able to call wide receiver Mike Wallace’s number for the first time since Week 2 certainly could help the Philadelphia Eagles match up better with the New Orleans Saints in this Sunday’s playoff game.
Coach Doug Pederson hinted before Friday’s practice that it actually could happen but that “we have to see them again today, get them back out there and move around a little bit more.”
The team then confirmed it after practice with the release of its final injury report, listing Jones (hamstring) and Wallace (ankle) as questionable along with LB D.J. Alexander (hamstring), DE Michael Bennett (foot), WR Shelton Gibson (hamstring) and T Jason Peters (quadriceps).
Wallace hasn’t played since being placed on injured reserve following Week 2. He became the second (and last, per NFL rules) player to be designated for return when he was activated before the final regularseason game.
Now it looks like the player they added to replace the deep threat lost by Torrey Smith’s departure might be ready to contribute again.
Starters Bennett and Peters also are likely to play. They’ve been dealing with the same
SUNDAY’S GAME
issue for weeks without missing games.
Pederson also covered a variety of other issues in his final meeting with reporters before Sunday’s showdown in New Orleans.
He feels much better about the state of the team’s cornerbacks heading into this rematch than he did the first time.
“I think they’re just playing with a little more confidence,” he said. “They’re playing together, they’re hearing all the calls the safeties and the linebackers are making and they’re just comfortable with playing more. They’re playing fast and they’re not necessarily thinking as much as just reacting to what they see.”
Of his fourth-down mentality, he said: “I think in games like this you have to stay aggressive.”
He agreed with a suggestion that the Saints defense is underrated.
“I do,” he said. “I think it’s a tremendous defense. Great against the rush; they’re sacking the quarterback; it’s a veteran group on the back end and it’s just a relentless group.”
He reiterated how misguided players would be to seek revenge for the 48-7 thrashing at the hands of the Saints in November.
“You have to guard against that,” he said, “because if you start doing that, it takes you out of who you are, it takes you out of character a little bit. … You’ve just got to stay with who you are, trust the scheme, trust the process, trust the guys around you. I mean, that’s what you’ve got to do in games like this. You can’t get all sideways thinking revenge or thinking we’ve got to to do this, we’ve got to do that.”
However, using the result as motivation simply to advance in the playoffs is just fine with the coach.
“I know the guys,” he said. “It’s on their mind obviously because we’re playing them again. It’s all over the news every time you turn it on. It’s always referenced back to that game, which is the last thing we know.
“So the guys understand, didn’t play well. If they use it as motivation, great. Everybody gets motivated differently for different games. I just think that this is a big game because it’s the next one and it’s the only one we have left on our schedule unless we win, and so from that standpoint the motivation factor is a little different.”
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