Miles Sanders Indicates Knee is Fine and Expects to Play vs. Saints

The RB was a surprise entry on the injury report, but he said he is OK, while the big news was the return of Jalen Hurts to practice

PHILADELPHIA - Miles Sanders was a surprise entry on the Eagles' injury report this week.

On Wednesday, he was estimated to be a nonpractice participant during the team's walkthrough with a knee issue.

On Thursday, he was listed as limited as the Eagles flocked to Lincoln Financial Field to prepare for Sunday's home game against the New Orleans Saints (1 p,m./FOX).

Who knows what Friday will bring, but Sanders told SI Eagles today that he is "straight" when it comes to the injury and expects to play. He noted that he generally needs a week to get his body right at this time of year.

"It's a physical position and everyone has bumps and bruises this time of year," Sanders told SI.com's Eagles Today.

What the middle ground could be is Sanders' getting fewer touches and Boston Scott taking on a larger role as the backup.

An interesting development came in the special team portion of practice when Olympian Devon Allen was working as the kickoff returner. That was a bit of an eye-opener because Scott has excelled at the job since taking over.

The connection is that Miles Sanders is dealing with a knee injury and if Scott is needed more in the backfield, the Eagles may want kickoffs off his plate and elevate the speedy Allen to handle the role vs. the Saints.

Allen hasn't gotten any indication of a possible elevation just yet and noted that head coach Nick Sirianni has set up an ecosystem where everyone is preparing as if they will be used.

"It's interesting because the way we practice and the way we prepare is like everyone is expected to know everything that's going on," Allen said. "Like even me, when I'm running scouting stuff and I mess up, I get called out for it.

"...So I think everybody, offense, defense, special teams has a real good idea of like what's going on so when they do get elevated it's nothing different because we've been working on it."

The big news of the practice was the return of Jalen Hurts. The quarterback was throwing passes during individual drills and even took some first-team reps, though not all of them with Garner Minshew working in as well.

Hurts did not do ball security drills, but he has two days left to see what his ailing right shoulder will allow him to do and to see if he can answer the bell against a physical Saints defense that features Cam Jordan, DeMario Davis, and Tyrann Mathieu.

READ MORE: Jalen Hurts' Return to Practice a Decoy or a Positive Sign?

The Eagles also want to keep under wraps how they will handle the absence of Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson, who will be sitting out the rest of the regular season with a core muscle injury in the hopes of playing through the postseason before getting surgery.

The most likely options are either starting backup Jack Driscoll at what is his natural position or moving Jordan Mailata over to RT and inserting 2019 first-round pick Andre Dillard.

Miles Sanders as well. #Eagles pic.twitter.com/zIsaZ2r8vH

— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) December 29, 2022

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today 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 YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen