Eagles Limp Into Preseason Opener
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The good news for the Eagles is the preseason opener is getting closer. The bad news is they are running out of players.
On Monday, Head Coach Doug Pederson announced Malcolm Jenkins, Jason Peters and Jordan Matthews would be out for Thursday night's game against Tampa Bay. On Tuesday, Pederson added Mychal Kendricks, Malcolm Smith and rookie Wendell Smallwood to the inactive list. While Pederson would like to have all of his players on the field Thursday night, he wants to make sure everyone is ready for the third week of the preseason.
"That's the time that you play your starters for a little bit more than a quarter," said Pederson. "You play them into the third, so that would be the time to hopefully get back for that football game so that all the guys are healthy at that time."
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One of the more significant injuries is the one to Smallwood. While several of the veterans can afford to miss some preseason snaps, the rookie running back needs as much work as possible to stay up to speed. Pederson believes the practices at training camp have already helped Smallwood stay in game shape.
"Getting banged around as a running back is obviously the biggest part of their game and getting that physicalness and the pass protection," Pederson said. "We will do enough of the thud drills in practice to hopefully get him caught up where he needs to be when he eventually returns."
Matt Tobin will start at left tackle in place of Peters, who will be sidelined due to a quad injury. Peters is not expected to miss a significant amount of time, and Pederson said the veteran will still be keeping busy on Thursday night.
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"Jason Peters will actually work out with the team during pregame warm-ups," said Pederson. "He will be on the sideline in uniform. He won't play, but he's going to go through the drills and we want to see where he is at so he can be ready for next week."
As Pederson continues to shuffle the depth chart for Thursday night, he is trying to contain his excitement as he prepares for his first game as a head coach.
"I'm excited," said Pederson. "I'm really looking forward to getting over there for the first one in the Linc and having the fans there, then the opportunity to play against another opponent and just watch our guys with how they have competed for the first two weeks of camp and watch them go against another team. Obviously, you want to come away with no injuries but at the same time, we are going to stay aggressive. I'm thrilled. I am looking forward to it and just can't wait for Thursday."
