Taking stock of the Eagles as training camp draws nigh: Lots of talent, and some injury questions

When Doug Pederson met with reporters last month to preview Eagles training camp, he was asked if this is the most talented group he has coached since he was hired here, in 2016.

“From a skill position [perspective] on offense, it's probably the best we've had, going into my fourth season,” Pederson said. “From a depth standpoint … I think it's equivalent to what we had going into the 2017 season.

“But listen, all that can change in a heartbeat, as we know. This is a violent sport, violent game … I'm not going to sit here and make predictions and put our team in a box that way, [because] we still have to go coach and play games, obviously. But on paper, it appears that way.”

It’s a ticklish subject, because if this group, scheduled to report to NovaCare for training camp on Wednesday, is the best assemblage of talent Pederson has commanded, that would make the 2019 Eagles better than the 2017 version that won the only Super Bowl title in franchise history. Anything short of a Lombardi Trophy this season would be failure. As Pederson noted, you don’t want to build that trap for yourself before the preseason even begins.

The Eagles, an injury-ravaged 9-7 team last season that nonetheless came close to returning to the NFC Championship Game, seem to have had a productive offseason. (Bear in mind that a couple of months ago, we were saying the same thing about the Phillies.) They brought in a proven workhorse back in Jordan Howard, and drafted a back who seems very well-suited to their offense in Miles Sanders. They welcomed DeSean Jackson back into the fold, and added rookie red zone threat J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to the wideout group. They drafted a likely successor to Jason Peters in Andre Dillard.

Defensively, the offseason news was mixed, with the team losing edge rushers Michael Bennett and Chris Long, along with middle linebacker Jordan Hicks. The Eagles brought back Vinny Curry, signed Malik Jackson to complement Fletcher Cox, kept Brandon Graham from leaving in free agency, drafted Shareef Miller to help out on the edge, and signed Zach Brown to supplement the linebacking crew. Veteran safety Andrew Sendejo arrived on a one-year deal, with Rodney McLeod recovering from knee surgery.

The Eagles, who used 10 cornerbacks last season while finishing 30th in NFL passing yards allowed, should have six corners the coaching staff seems to like by the start of the season, assuming continued healing for Ronald Darby (knee) and Jalen Mills (foot). But it might be worth tucking away in the back of your mind that even if the coaches like all of these guys, not one of them is an established, Pro Bowl-level NFL performer, someone you know is capable of shutting down, say, Dallas’ Amari Cooper.

When defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was asked about his unit this spring, he referred to it as “a work in progess.” Pederson lauded “depth and competition” heading into camp, some of it built from last season’s trials, in which younger players such as 2018 rookie corner Avonte Maddox showed they were capable when called upon.

Depth was the key to the Super Bowl victory; no team has ever won the title with more significant starters sidelined. But is it realistic to imagine being able to do it that way again? This is an older roster at some key spots, and some of the depth is untested.

The Nick Foles safety net is gone. This season, if Carson Wentz suffers a significant injury, backup Nate Sudfeld has appeared in exactly three career NFL games, and has thrown exactly one career touchdown pass. Wentz has missed the last two stretch drives and postseasons. If Wentz stays healthy all the way, it is hard to imagine the Eagles not making the playoffs. If he goes down, after signing that four-year, $128 million contract extension, well, a lot more than 2019 would suddenly look shaky.

Wentz is far from the only key variable. When Pederson was asked his biggest concern heading into camp, he noted that among the players being counted on, quite a few were still recuperating from injuries during spring work. At least a significant handful won’t be on the field, or at least won’t be full-go, when the Eagles line up to practice for the first time on Thursday.

“We got guys that are nicked up who haven’t been with us, and you know, some of those are going to linger,” Pederson said. “The overall health of the team is sort of my biggest concern with the team right now, heading into the season.”

The most significant injured Eagle with the steepest climb back to full strength might be right guard Brandon Brooks, who tore an Achilles tendon in the New Orleans playoff loss. Brooks has posted videos of his workouts where he seems to have made amazing progress, but most people who have rehabbed Achilles tears say it took a full year to get back to where they’d been before the injury. Right now, it seems iffy that Brooks can get clearance to play in the season opener, Sept. 8 against Washington.

Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who has only played tackle in his three NFL seasons, worked all spring filling in for Brooks. Nobody knows how that will play out if Brooks misses games. If Big V flops, one more time around with Stefen Wisniewski?

Darby and Mills could be the starting corners – except neither Darby nor Mills was healthy enough for spring work, so we’ll see. And then there’s Cox, probably the most important Eagle after Wentz. He suffered a serious foot injury in the playoff loss, and his status for the start of training camp is unknown.

Football is a game of injuries, but the confusion and intrigue around the Eagles last season was troubling. Heading into 2018, the organization canned head team physician and orthopedist Peter DeLuca, along with internist Gary Dorshimer. This didn’t seem to help anything; there were injuries and reinjuries, and guys like wideout Mack Hollins, who one minute were supposed to be just about ready to return and the next minute were undergoing season-ending surgery, which the team did not announce. We still don’t know when and how Wentz suffered the back injury that ultimately ended his season.

This offseason, the Eagles dismissed Stephen A. Stache, the orthopedist who had taken over for DeLuca, and hired Arsh Dhanota, who was given the title of chief medical officer.

Pederson was asked about this factor, as well.

“I think the one takeaway, talking to our medical team, talking to our nutritionist, talking to our strength and conditioning guys, is dedicating more time to soft tissue-type injuries, their foam rollers, or doing more stretching, core, things like that, that have kept our guys a little more healthy on the football field,” Pederson said. “And those are the things that we can continue to educate our players on.”