The Eagles left Sunday’s game against Baltimore undefeated, but not unscathed. One injured starter will definitely miss next week’s game at Arizona and there’s a good chance two more starters will be sidelined, as well. And that means it’s time to call in the reinforcements.
Center Jason Kelce is out for an indefinite amount of time with a knee injury, and that was expected. But on Monday the Eagles also found out that the injuries to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (hip-pointer) and tackle King Dunlap (hamstring) may be serious enough to keep them out of the lineup for awhile.
The Eagles already knew that Dallas Reynolds would be replacing Kelsey for the foreseeable future and now they have to get two more reserves up to speed in time for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. Veteran Demetress Bell -- who came to training camp as the starter and lost his job to Dunlap – will step in at left tackle and veteran Jason Avant and rookie Damaris Johnson will fill in for Maclin during practice this week. After that, nobody is sure.
Coach Andy Reid praised the job Bell did after replacing Dunlap against the Ravens and even though he said the job was still Dunlap’s if he’s healthy, it sounded as if Reid was preparing for Plan B.
“It’ll be a battle to get (Dunlap) going, but I was very pleased with how Bell played,’’ Reid said. “I thought he did a heck of a job and he’s worthy to start and he’s got a lot of experience under his belt to do that.”
The Eagles will probably add another offensive lineman, one who has some experience at center. Two possibilities are Steve Vallos, who played pretty well in camp before being released on the final cut, and Julian Vandervelde, the Eagles’ fifth-round pick in 2011 who was also released on the final cut this year. He was later signed and then released by Tampa Bay.
Other injuries, none of which are expected to be serious: S Nate Allen (shoulder contusion), S Colt Anderson (hyper-extended knee), WR Jason Avant (wrist), DE Jason Babin (abdomen), WR DeSean Jackson (hamstring), G Evan Mathis (neck contusion).
Fletcher Cox coming on strong: Rookie Fletcher Cox has been playing better and because of that he’s been playing more. In the season-opener against the Browns, the first-round pick was on the field for about 20 plays and in Sunday’s game against the Ravens he was on the field for 51 snaps. That’s a big difference and it came against a better team.
“I can’t control how many snaps I get, just what I do with them when I get them,’’ Cox said. “I appreciate the confidence the coaches are showing in me now and I don’t want to let them or my teammates down.’’
Cox struggled at times in training camp and the preseason as he learned a new system and new teammates. But apparently a light bulb went off and Reid and defensive line coach Jim Washburn saw it.
“I talked to Wash about that today and, really, it’s a tribute to the kid and the progress he’s made,’’ Reid said. “This kid, he’s gotten better every week. He’s got a huge challenge this week (vs. Arizona), but he deserved that opportunity to up his playing time and we just gave him a chance to get a few more reps in there and snaps. And I thought he did a good job with it.”
Running in place: The Eagles activated three running backs on Sunday against the Ravens and Dion Lewis wasn’t one of them. Backing up LeSean McCoy were two rookies, Bryce Brown and Chris Polk, and even though Lewis was still ahead of them on the Eagles’ latest depth chart, it’s clear that they’ve leapfrogged past him.
Brown had three carries for seven yards against the Ravens and Polk made his mark on special teams while Lewis was inactive for the second straight week. And the sore hamstring that limited him previously appears to be completely healed, although Reid did mention it on Monday while talking about his running backs.
“The other kids have done a good job, so we felt good about them up to this point and that they had earned the right to do that (be activated),’’ Reid said. “Plus, Dion was set back just a bit with the injury and so those things happen. He’s close to 100 percent now, so we’ll see how things go as we go on here.”
Push came to shove vs. Ravens: Reid responded to charges from some Ravens players that the Eagles took cheap shots before and after the whistle on Sunday. That included fullback Vonta Leach who said this of the Eagles: “I think there was some ugly play out there and they seemed to take some late shots and then we went back at them. There was a lot of dirty play out there and we were not going to take a lot of it. … Whenever you play someone that is getting dirty you cannot back down or they will continue to do it.”
Reid doesn’t usually respond to what players and coaches on other teams have to say, but he made an exception this time.
“I would tell you there was a little pushing and shoving and all that. I think it was probably both sides,’’ Reid said. “I think it was two good football teams playing each other, and you’re going to get a little of that. It was a physical game."
Then Reid got in a little dig of his own: “I’m not sure their opinion of us was that we were maybe as tough as what they figured out we were once we got there.”
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Philadelphia Eagles from blogger Kevin Noonan, follow@CBSEagles.
