Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Things to Watch for in Preseason Week 1
By Carl Naimoli
2. Key Players Returning From Injuries
It’s been well documented how much injury troubles the Eagles had last season. They had multiple players on the injured reserve that were having Pro Bowl seasons. Now is finally the time to see how some of these players look in their first game of action since being hurt.
Darren Sproles, Jason Peters and Jordan Hicks have all returned to their normal roles during training camp. Expect to see them play for at least a few minutes against the Steelers.
It will be interesting to see how Sproles fits into the offense with the emergence of Corey Clement, who plays a similar role. Will Sproles still have the same skills that helped him shed so many tackles? Will he be returning punts too? Many questions remain for Sproles, and there’s a good chance we’ll have some answers this week.
Jason Peters has been solid his whole career and is a crucial part of the Eagles offensive line. Because Peters is the way he is, it will be surprising if he looks like he missed any time. Expect to see him back at his usual best defending the blind-side of Nick Foles.
Jordan Hicks will be back to quarterback the defense after rupturing his Achilles. Since this is the first significant injury of his young career, it will be interesting to see how he looks on the gridiron. Hopefully, for Eagles fans, he hasn’t lost a step and looks like the fast hard-hitting MLB that he was before the injury.