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Eagles hobbled yet again with injuries to TE Zach Ertz, RB Miles Sanders

It has been a miserable, underwhelming season for the Philadelphia Eagles. Their 1-4-1 record makes that obvious, but the misery extends beyond their pitiful record. They’ve dealt with numerous injuries to important players this season, and following their Week 6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, they’re dealing with two more.

Tight end Zach Ertz, a vitally important player who is due for a major contract extension, reportedly has an ankle injury and will be out three to four weeks. Running back Miles Sanders reportedly hurt his knee on Sunday and won’t play in Week 7, and possibly longer.

Injuries to key players are always terrible, but it’s especially terrible right now. The Eagles face their division rivals the New York Giants on Thursday night. The Giants are bad, but they were expected to be bad this season. The Eagles were supposed to be much better than their 1-4-1 record, and the prospect of losing to the Giants strikes fear into the heart of every Eagles fan. But after weeks and weeks of injuries, that’s a familiar feeling.

Injuries continue to pile up

Not all of the Eagles’ woes stem from injuries, but many of them do. It began before the season even started. Guard Brandon Brooks tore his Achilles in June and left tackle Andre Dillard tore his biceps in August and both were lost for the entire season. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery began the season recovering from a Lisfranc injury, and while his return has been rumored for weeks, he’s still been limited in practice.

Safety Will Parks and defensive end Vinny Curry both injured their hamstrings in early September, and were activated off the injured list just before Week 6. Isaac Seumalo wasn’t as lucky. The left guard injured his knee and went on injured reserve after Week 2 and still isn’t back.

 Zach Ertz heads to the locker room after an injury.
Tight end Zach Ertz and running back Miles Sanders are just the latest addition to the Eagles' long, long list of injuries. (Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Wide receiver Jalen Reagor and tight end Dallas Goedert were both banged up before the season started, and then they got banged up shortly after it began. Reagor tore the UCL in his thumb in Week 2 and Goedert fractured his ankle in Week 3. On the bright side, both are eligible to be reinstated from the injured list for Week 7.

Lane Johnson, one of the Eagles’ most important offensive players, has been dealing with a lingering ankle injury and no one knows when he’ll be good to play again. Wide receiver DeSean Jackson injured his hamstring in Week 3 and hasn’t been back. Cornerback Avonte Maddox injured his ankle in the same game an also hasn’t been back. Left tackle Jason Peters has been on IR since Week 3 with a toe injury.

In short, it’s a mess. The Eagles were old and constantly injured during the 2019 season, and things haven’t been any different this season. The team has given general manager Howie Roseman a lot of freedom in building the roster, but he very obviously didn’t improve much between 2019 and 2020. If things continue on like this for the Eagles, we could see some major changes to their front office at the end of the season.

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