PERSONNEL NEWS

Strategy And Personnel

The Sports Xchange

December 27, 2018 at 1:43 am.

PLAYER NOTES

–WR Mike Wallace was activated from injured reserve this week. Wallace broke his fibula in Week 2. He signed a one-year contract in the offseason and has yet to record a catch for his new team, though he made one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before getting hurt, but it was nullified due to a penalty.

Wallace becomes the second player to be activated from IR this season, joining tight end Richard Rodgers, who was activated on Nov. 16 and had his first catch of the season against the Texans on Sunday.

To make room for Wallace on the 53-man roster and cornerback Josh Hawkins, who was promoted from the practice squad, the Eagles released cornerbacks De’Vante Bausby and Chandon Sullivan, who was then signed to the practice squad.

Head coach Doug Pederson was noncommittal on how much Wallace would play in the season finale.

–CB Josh Hawkins was promoted from the practice squad this week. He has played in 31 career NFL games between the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers. “Josh is a smart guy,” said head coach Doug Pederson. “He has good speed and quickness. He’s played, obviously. It’s a great opportunity for him to make a couple changes this late just to see a young player, see what you have. Good time to do it.”

–DT Tim Jernigan was activated from the reserve/non-football injury List on Nov. 20, played 20 snaps that week, did not play the following week with back spasms, then was inactive the next two games. He returned against the Texans, though, and made two tackles in 17 snaps. “He’s felt good the last couple of days,” said head coach Doug Pederson. “We’re optimistic that he can handle a little bit more.”

–The only other start Redskins QB Josh Johnson made against the Eagles came on Oct. 11, 2009 with Tampa Bay. He threw 50 times, with 26 completions, for 240 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions in a 33-14 loss. He also fumbled twice and was sacked three times.

–WR Nelson Agholor led the Eagles with a season-high 116 yards, which marked the second-highest single-game total of his NFL career (141 yards on Dec. 3, 2017 at Seattle). Agholor caught an 83-yard TD pass from QB Nick Foles in the third quarter that gave the Eagles a 23-16 lead. The score marked the longest TD of both Agholor’s and Foles’ careers and was the longest passing TD by an Eagle since Michael Vick hooked up with DeSean Jackson for a 91-yard TD on Dec. 12, 2010 at Dallas.

–WR Alshon Jeffery finished last week’s game with 82 receiving yards, including a season-long 52-yard reception in the third quarter. Jeffery is the first Eagle to record 50-plus-yard receptions in back-to-back games since Jeremy Maclin on Oct. 26, 2014 and Nov. 2, 2014, and it is the first time Jeffery has accomplished the feat in his career.

–DE Chris Long had two sacks against the Texans, bringing his season total to 6.5, which are his most since 2013 with St. Louis when he had 8.5.

–DT Fletcher Cox has 10 career fumble recoveries, which are tied for the fourth-most in Eagles all-time history, behind Mike Jarmoluk (12, 1949-55), Reggie White (11, 1985-92) and Vic Sears (11, 1941-53).

–The Eagles went 4-of-4 on fourth-down attempts, which is the most in a single game since at least 1991. Foles threw touchdown passes on two of those fourth downs.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: RB Darren Sproles. The quarterback switch to Nick Foles grabs most of the attention for the Eagles’ recent winning ways, but to overlook the shortest player on the field would be an injustice. Sproles has been on the field for the last four games and the Eagles have won three of them. He has scored three touchdowns since returning from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for 10 straight games. He had a 37-yard catch-and-run score that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead in their win over the Houston Texans.

He had his most receiving yards (76) in a single game since Sept. 25, 2016 vs. Pittsburgh (128 yards). Sproles caught a 37-yard TD pass from Foles on fourth-and-2 that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. It was the longest receiving TD by an Eagle on fourth down since Brian Dawkins’ 57-yard TD catch on a fake punt (thrown by Brian Mitchell) on Sept. 29, 2002 vs. Houston.

“I’m not surprised, and I say that because of watching this guy day-in and day-out, whether it’s been through his rehab or the way he’s practiced during the week,” said head coach Doug Pederson. “This guy goes a hundred miles an hour every single day. It shows up. When you see this stuff in the game, it’s not surprising because he does it during the week. So again, it’s a credit to him, where he is in his career, he’s been a valuable part of the Eagles organization since he’s been here and quite frankly, this time of the year for us right now.”

Sproles, who will turn 36 next June, said at the start of the season that he would retire at the end of the season. He left the door open when he said, “We’ll see,” when asked after last Sunday’s win if he was still going to retire.

“I think Darren Sproles would be a great addition (next season),” said Pederson. “He’s a great leader, he works hard, he’s a great mentor to a lot of young players. I think everybody would love to have a Darren Sproles. I would.”

GAME PLAN: If the Eagles can score early, this one could be over quickly because the Redskins have nothing left to play for this year and may be willing to pack up before halftime and head into the offseason if they are too far behind. An early lead would also negate Washington’s running game, which is led by the ageless Adrian Peterson, who stung the Eagles in the first meeting this year with a 90-yard touchdown run.

Scoring early has not exactly been the Eagles’ forte, however, this season. They scored a first-quarter touchdown for just the fourth time this year in the win over the Texans.

The team also showed the ability to strike quickly, with a Nick Foles to Nelson Agholor touchdown pass on the first play of one series that went for an 83-yard touchdown. One or two of those deep shots and the Redskins could be toast.

Really, though, the Eagles need to do a better job running the ball than they did against Houston, which has a very strong front seven and made running difficult. Still, the Eagles had just 57 yards on 22 attempts as a team, with Foles throwing the ball 49 times.

In the previous meeting between these two teams earlier this month, the Eagles hammered Washington with a heavy dose of Josh Adams, who put up a career-high 85 yards on the ground with 20 carries. As a team, the Eagles ran for 130 yards on 33 carries in the 28-13 win at Lincoln Financial Field on Dec. 3.

On defense, the Eagles don’t want to let Washington quarterback Josh Johnson get started, so it will start with pressure up front. The Eagles dialed up four sacks against Houston’s Deshaun Watson.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH:

–Eagles QB Nick Foles vs. Redskins secondary. Foles is coming off a record-setting performance in the win over the Texans and was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Washington’s secondary will have to adjust to life without D.J. Swearinger, who was released this week after making critical comments about the game plan. Swearinger had four interceptions this season and was claimed by the Arizona Cardinals.

–Eagles RT Lane Johnson vs. Redskins OLB Ryan Kerrigan. Johnson went toe-to-toe with Houston’s J.J. Watt last week and won the battle, holding Watt without a sack. Watt entered the game with 14.5 sacks, which was tied for second most in the NFL. Not only did Watt not get any sacks against Johnson, but didn’t make much of an impact on the game. Johnson said he was fueled by not making the Pro Bowl.

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