Miles Sanders Overcomes Broken Hand, Doubt, to Return for Playoffs
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TAMPA - A broken hand on the day after Christmas. Not much of a gift for Eagles running back Miles Sanders.
He had surgery the day after fracturing a bone in his right hand against the New York Giants on Dec. 26.
Meanwhile, he told everybody to do him a favor – make the playoffs.
“He was in my office, and he said, ‘Promise me we're going to the playoffs, we're going, right?’” recalled head coach Nick Sirianni on Friday. “You know me, I'm just like, ‘Yeah, one game at a time. One game at a time. One game at a time.’
“But I knew he was going to be out for a little bit, so I kind of said, ‘Okay, I promise you right there.’ What it says about him is just how determined he is to get back and showcase his talent on a national stage here in the first round of the playoffs.”
Sanders’ teammates upheld their end of the bargain, giving him the gift of getting to play in at least one more game on Sunday as the Eagles begin the postseason with a first-round game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now, the RB will try to reciprocate with a gift of his own – helping the Eagles upset the heavily-favored Bucs in their backyard.
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“All I care about is I just want to show we’re not just a seventh seed,” said Sanders on Friday after being cleared to play. “I think everybody should be careful about what they say about us.
"I think we’re a very dangerous team and we’re tough to beat no matter who we’re playing. It’s a new season. Everybody is 0-0. It’s postseason time, so just trying to prove that we’re not just trying to end up here. We’re trying to go far.”
Having Sanders gives Sirianni and his offense a full complement of backs, with Boston Scott, Jordan Howard, and Kenny Gainwell ready for duty.
While Sanders is a full go, two other players are not – defensive end Josh Sweat (illness) and guard Nate Herbig (ankle). They are both listed as questionable.
Sweat’s illness is not COVID, otherwise, he would have been placed on the virus list.
“He's back in the building (Friday),” said Sirianni. “He had some abdominal pain early in the week, but he's getting a little bit better each day.”
As for the running backs, four may be too many to have active on Sunday, but that’s a good problem to have.
Miles Sanders said on Friday he is ready to go on Sunday vs. Tampa Bay
“Really excited to be able to have them all hands-on deck,” said Sirianni. “I was just saying to the team after practice, what great contribution we have gotten from so many different people this year, and I really talked about the running back group.
"What other teams can say they have gotten contributions from four different running backs? And really Jason Huntley played a good game the other day, so five different running backs, right? But for a majority of the year, it was four different running backs.
“So, to have all hands on deck, we know we're going to need all hands on deck to go out and do what we want to do this weekend. That group is no different. We're just excited that Miles is going to be ready to go and ready to play in this football game because we know how important he is to this offense.”
Sanders credited the training staff for aiding his rapid return from surgery.
“I have to give all my credit to them,” he said. “Even when I was down on myself these last two weeks, I doubted myself throughout these whole two weeks and literally, well, couple days ago, I had a real good day, then the next day was good. I just felt good.
“Actually, I really want to thank the guy above. I’m just happy to be available for my team and happy to be able to suit up again and hopefully stack up these playoff wins and do something real special.”
Sanders began working his way back toward football-related things just this week. Even still, he said he won’t wear anything to protect the hand, nor will he think about it.
“They were kind of asking me what I wanted to do this week, and I told them I wanted to do everything,” he said. “With an injury like this, I gotta feel confident in myself before anybody looks at me … I might look like I’m doing good, but it’s still bothering me. Just trying to do as much as I can, what they allow me each and every day.
“Every day was just doing more and more each day. To start with the handoffs, running the ball, squeezing the ball, holding it. We do a ball-security drill with coaches punching at the football. And catching the ball, catching screens, stuff like that, routes, and just got the confidence. I feel ready to go...I’ll try to protect as much as I can, but I’m not going to be hesitant.”
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Sanders only had one carry in the first half against the Bucs in their first meeting, as the Eagles fell behind 21-7 after two quarters then 28-7 in the third quarter before rallying a bit only to fall shorts, 28-22.
If the hand really is good, you can bet he will have more carries than that before halftime.
“Super fresh,” he said when asked how if there was a silver lining to the injury. “Two weeks off, felt good in practice (Friday) and (Thursday). Everybody is asking me, ‘You look fast.’ The other injuries that I’ve had during the season – I feel a little better with my quad and my ankle. So, yeah, I feel good.”
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.
