Eagles' Miles Sanders Will Head to IR
PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles are expected to place running back Miles Sanders on injured reserve, something the third-year player himself intimated Friday morning.
By placing Sanders on IR, Philadelphia will be without its RB1 for at least the next three games.
The use or lack thereof of the talented Sanders had been a heavy criticism of Nick Sirianni's offense throughout the first six games and the Eagles made a bit of a self-correction in Las Vegas last week with more under-center looks from Jalen Hurts and traditional handoffs to Sanders.
It was very successful but Sanders injured his ankle after catching a screen pass on the second series and was ultimately carted off in pain with a towel over his head.
The worst-case scenario was avoided, however, in that Sanders is only expected to be out for the next three games, which includes matchups at home against the Los Angeles Chargers and at Denver after this Sunday's affair in Detroit.
For the next three weeks, the Eagles will rely on rookie Kenny Gainwell, veteran Boston Scott, and perhaps practice squad running back Jordan Howard, who still can be elevated twice without being put on the 53-man roster.
Through seven games, Sanders is the Eagles' second-leading rusher behind Hurts with 300 yards on 63 carries. He has split most of the reps with Gainwell, who has been leaned on more in the passing game.
After losing Sanders in-game against the Raiders, the Eagles relied mostly on Gainwell before a fumble shifted things a little more toward Scott, who finished with 7 carries for 24 yards in 23 offensive snaps after playing just four in the first six games.
With Sanders headed to IR, the Eagles will have an open roster spot and could simply elevate Howard or use it for one of the two players in the midst of their 21-day practice windows after being designated to return from IR: safety K'Von Wallace and tight end Tyree Jackson.
The Eagles weren't quite ready to make that decision on Friday.
"[Miles] is just going to be out for right now," Sirianni said. "We still have some decisions to make there. With him being out, it just means that the other guys that we have coming up and stepping up and making plays, with Kenny, and Boston and with Jordan.
"K'Von, and Tyree, so we still have 24 hours to see how this next 24 hours go, so still sorting through that."
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
