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It came as a little bit of a surprise on Tuesday morning when it was reported that Philadelphia Eagles running back Darren Sproles would be participating in the team's light practice. It did not look good when Sproles suffered an MCL injury in Week 5 against the New York Giants. Reports following the injury indicated that Sproles would miss at least on or two games.
It now seems like there's a decent chance that Sproles won't miss any playing time, which is certainly good news for Philadelphia's offense and punt return unit. Following the team's Tuesday practice Sproles revealed that he feels "pretty good" and that he can feels he can play against the Arizona Cardinals this week.
Darren Sproles said he's feeling "pretty good." Asked if he'll play this week: "The way I'm feeling, yeah. But that's up to the coach."
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) October 21, 2014
While that's far from an official confirmation, it's certainly an encouraging sign for the Eagles. Philadelphia will need one of their best offensive weapons on the field for them as they prepare to face a tough Cardinals defense.
Even if Sproles isn't ready to play this week, the fact that he seems close to playing bodes well moving forward. If his apparent progress is any indication, it seems like Sproles could be ready by Week 9 at the latest.
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In other Eagles injury news, starting inside linebacker Mychal Kendricks returned to practice on Tuesday. Reports indicate that Kendricks is on track to play on Sunday. The third-year linebacker hasn't been involved in game-action since suffering a calf injury in Week 2.
Starting center Jason Kelce also returned to practice on Tuesday but was only doing positional drills. After practice, Kelce noted that he's not sure if he'll be back as soon as Week 9 (as Evan Mathis suggested on Monday evening). He did note he's targeting a Week 10 (Carolina Panthers) return date at the latest.
And as far as Mathis goes, the Eagles All-Pro left guard did not practice on Tuesday but he will return to action on Wednesday. Mathis cannot be added to the Eagles 53-man roster until the week leading up to Philadelphia's Week 10 game.