“He Needs To Really Improve”

Uncertainty abounds regarding the health of several key players for the Eagles and Washington Football Team ahead of their Sunday matchup at the Linc.

On the latest Inside The Birds podcast, Geoff Mosher and Adam Caplan discuss the latest regarding Washington’s Covid-19 outbreak and Jalen Hurts’ injury status along with giving their game predictions.

Gardner Minshew is preparing for another start while Jalen Hurts is trying to heal in time to play

Jalen Hurts

Geoff Mosher: “Jalen Hurts has the ankle injury but there was pain he’s feeling or discomfort, all the way from the ankle to the heel. It’s his left ankle. For a quarterback that’s where you plant. Ankle injuries take a little bit. High ankle [sprains] could be 2-4 weeks. It’s my understanding it’s severe enough that this week he’s still feeling discomfort. Theres a video of him when walking into the practice bubble and he’s got a hitch in his gait. [The Eagles] are saying he’s splitting reps. It’s my understanding that it’s like the last week [vs. the Jets], he’s not taking a lot of reps. I would think he’d have to show significant process to be able to start.”

Adam Caplan: “A league source put [Hurts] at less than 50-50 [to play], which I call very questionable. He needs to really improve with the rehab that he’s doing on that left ankle, it’s his plant ankle. It’s really got to get better and you’d like to see him play through this. As a young player, this is his first injury issue that he’s gone through and you’d like to see him play through it and you talk about that heel, you don’t want to be ginger as a right-handed quarterback with your plant leg. I understand some people would say, ‘Well, it’s better than his right ankle, because you push off that.’ But as the plant, you’ve got to roll those hips. That could be painful.”

Covid Outbreak

Geoff Mosher: “I just hope between the time people hear this and Sunday, [Washington] gets some healthy guys, because I don’t know how they’re going to be able to play the game if they lose too many people. It becomes a safety issue.”

Caplan: “Well here’s what you do, though. I remember talking to the league about this last year, this is actually before the season started. They said we’re playing this season no matter what. This is why we expanded practice squads to 16. I remember one person saying if a team has a safety, they have to play corner if they’re down all of these corners. A linebacker would have to line up at defensive end if you have to, or a D-end at D-tackle if you have to. This guy said it is clearly on them. Fast forward to this season, the league made it very clear this is on the clubs.”

Dallas Goedert

Mosher: “It should be another good game regardless of who starts at quarterback, but if it is [Gardner] Minshew, it should be a good game for Dallas Goedert. You mentioned [Washington safety] Kam Curl being out, he’s a really good safety, great find by them. With him out, Landon Collins is not a great coverage safety, we’ve known that for a while. Dallas Goedert should be able to attack these seams.”

Run Defense

Caplan: “The Eagles’ run defense, by the way, is really significantly improved. I would be very surprised if they struggle against [Washington], just because I do believe their D-line matches up well.”

Mosher: “I agree. If I had Antonio Gibson in my fantasy league, which I do in one of them, I wouldn’t play him, which I’m not doing. First of all, if [J.D.] McKissic does play, he catches more passes, they tend to rely on him to catch the ball. Secondly, you’re right that they’ve leaned on him to stabilize the running game and he’s done well given that he’s playing with a shin fracture, but if you really boil it down, he’s averaging 3.9 yards per carry. It’s not like he’s been dominant. It’s been more high-volume runs.”

– Justin Morganstein (@jmotweets_) is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.

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