Boston Scott and His Practice Squad Teammates Spark Must-Win
The motto of the Eagles’ Super Bowl season in 2017 was “hungry dogs run faster.”
That hunger is gone. Any doubts about that, check the Eagles’ regular season record since they traveled down Broad Street in a parade for the ages after they vanquished the New England Patriots on Feb. 4, 2018. It stood at 14-14 going into Monday night’s game against the New York Giants.
Maybe the Eagles found some new hungry dogs. Three greyhounds in particular: Boston Scott, Greg Ward, and Josh Perkins.
All three of those players played pivotal roles in the Eagles’ 23-17 overtime win at Lincoln Financial Field. With three games remaining, they can win out and win the NFC East. Next up are the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field on Sunday.
All three of those players stayed hungry on the practice squad to start this season. Heck, Ward has been on and off the practice squad since that Super Bowl winning season.
Ward had four receptions for 34 yards. He was the only healthy receiver the Eagles had left when the game went into overtime. Alshon Jeffery departed early in the second quarter with a foot injury and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside went out late in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.
Perkins caught all five of his targets for 37 yards.
“It was great just to be out there and finally get a chance to play,” said Perkins, who was on the active roster for nine games, but didn’t make the team out of training camp and was added to the practice squad right before the season.
He wasn’t promoted until Nov. 20, the day before the Eagles played the Dolphins.
“We continued to work all year on practice squad, each and every day, and try to reap the benefits when we get out chance,” said Perkins. “Being on practice squad at the beginning of the year just kind of hurt me, I was in a bad place at the beginning. I had to get myself out of it by continuing to work.”
Perkins was helped by his fellow practice squad friends Ward and Scott, who was simply electric in the win, finishing with 59 yards on 10 carries, including a two-yard touchdown with 1:28 to play in the third quarter that pulled the Eagles to within 17-10. Scott added six catches on six targets for 69 yards, a lot of those yards churned out after catching short throws.
“I didn’t know he had it in him,” said head coach Doug Pederson.
Obviously not, because Scott didn’t have a role the past two games. Elevated from the practice squad after the win over the New York Jets on Oct. 6, Scott may not have had much of a role on Monday night if Miles Sanders didn’t get nicked with an injury that had him out of the game for stretches. Sanders is OK, and returned, but Scott was making the game his.
“I felt good,” said Scott. “I felt I went out there and did my job, stayed in the moment, stayed in the present. I didn’t worry about what I had done or what I was going to. I just worried about that play, just did my best to stay in the moment and enjoy it with my teammates.”
Scott and Ward spend many days driving to the practice facility together from the apartment complex where they live, and Scott said Ward has been an inspiration to him, especially Ward’s perseverance.
“We always talk about our opportunity coming and just making the most of it,” said Scott. “I was down a lot more than he was. His mindset is contagious, just the way he approaches every single day. I have a lot of respect for him. To see him be successful I love seeing that. That’s my guy.”
Asked how he was able to hang for more than two years on in hopes that one day his opportunity would come, Ward said: “A lot of patience, a lot of faith, a lot of hard work, an just trusting the process, honestly.”
The practice squad produced 199 yards of the 418 total yards put up by the Eagles. More importantly, it may have provided the hunger the Eagles needed in a game they had to win to keep their season alive.
