Philadelphia Eagles: Survival through early injury absences pivotal

The Philadelphia Eagles have gone 2-1 to start 2018, despite missing key pieces due to injury to start the year, which is pivotal to their overall success.

After the NFL Kickoff game, in which the Philadelphia Eagles escaped as victors in an ugly game, there were concerns about the defending Super Bowl champions. Many expected the beginning of the season to be a bit rough given the key players out due to injuries to start the year, but it looked quite worrisome. Those worries came out in droves as the Eagles fell to Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the following week.

However, a 1-1 start without Carson Wentz, without Alshon Jeffery and with Jason Peters banged up isn’t the worst thing. After all, it’s only September, and the key is simply being in position to play in January and, perhaps more importantly, peaking then.

Thus, when Wentz made his return in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts, it was a welcomed sight. Yes, there were times where the third-year quarterback showed a little rust in his return from a torn ACL suffered near the end of the 2017 regular season. Having said that, he looked healthy and like himself at times as well, giving optimism for things to come. And, of course, he led the way to a win.

Now the Eagles have even more signs of optimism. Not only is Peters getting healthier (he played at less than 100 percent last week), but Jeffery seems to be nearing a return. Per Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation, head coach Doug Pederson says the wideout has been cleared for contact. His status for Week 4 is still in question, but it’s clear a return is looming in the near future.

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With the injuries that the Eagles were forced to deal with to start this season, the modus operandi for this team was clear: Avoid digging a deep hole. Sure, starting 0-2 isn’t a deep hole, but it’s a hole nonetheless. Getting that 1-1 start and then moving to 2-1 in Wentz’s shake-off-the-rust game is fantastic for the defending champions.

En route to the Super Bowl victory last year, the Eagles showed how lethal this roster can be. In case you’re not tired enough of hearing it at this point, they did win the Big Game with backup quarterback Nick Foles starting (and starring).

Having said that, the best iteration of this team is, of course, when Wentz is fully healthy and so too is his full complement of weapons. We have yet to see that in the 2018 season, yet the Eagles are 2-1 still, and are about to get that full arsenal on the field sooner rather than later — especially if their running back health can get on the right track.

So yes, the start of the Eagles title defense has been a bit lackluster. All told, that doesn’t matter. The start of the 2018 season for this team was all about surviving until they could get everyone on the field. They’ve done that, and now they should be primed to get healthy and try to run through the league once more.