Lots of injuries to former Eagles in Week 14, and Trey Burton is up for a big honor

The Eagles cannot catch a break. And while injuries can only account for so many of the issues the team has faced this year, losing twice to the Cowboys was a gut punch few were ready for.

Now we’ve learned that Carson Wentz might miss Sunday night’s game with back soreness, and the 2018 collapse is now complete.

In an effort to divert your attention from the wallowing I can only assume you’re stuck in,, here’s a look at how some former Eagles fared in Week 14. (Spoiler: Not all that great.)

Trey Burton is the Bears’ nominee for Man of the Year

The former Eagles tight end has had a bit of an up and down season, but has maintained his quality efforts off the field. Burton has always been a guy invested in his community, and that didn’t change when he signed with the Bears. Now, he’s being honored as Chicago’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

In the Bears’ Week 14 win over the Rams, Burton had just two catches for 22 yards (on five targets), for a season total of 40 catches for 470 yards and five touchdowns with a quarter of the season left to play.

Recently, Burton opened up about being asked to contribute to another trick play, the “Oopma Loompa” and admitted that he had too much anxiety related to the Philly Special to feel comfortable participating. It wasn’t an issue for head coach Matt Nagy, but it is at the very least interesting.

Washington scoops up former Eagles

We all saw Mark Sanchez had signed with Washington a few weeks ago, and he even saw playing time against the Eagles win in Week 13. After Colt McCoy went down during that game, it seemed like Sanchez would be Washington’s QB1 through the rest of the season — that was until his Week 14 performance.

Last Sunday against the Giants, Sanchez wasn’t just bad, he was pulled mid-game after going 6-of-14 for 38 yards and two interceptions, and he was also sacked five times for a loss of 29 yards. To top it all off, he finished the day with a 10.7 QB rating. (Yikes.) He was replaced by seven-year veteran Josh Johnson, who did considerably better and most likely will resume QB1 duties the remainder of the season.

Washington signed another former Eagle last week, former first-round draft pick Marcus Smith. He didn’t see playing time on Sunday against New York, but will certainly be needed as their list of injured players grows.

Injuries and Inactives

DeSean Jackson missed his second game in a row after re-aggravating the thumb injury he suffered in Week 1. While he hopes to return this season, current reports say he’s unable to squeeze the football with his injured hand.

Wide receiver DeAndre Carter was sidelined during the Texans game on Sunday with a concussion and is still going through the protocol.

LeSean McCoy left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury after just two carries for one yard and one missed target.

Linebacker Mychal Kendricks was back for his first game after serving an eight-game suspension, and had five total tackles in Week 14 for the Seahawks. Originally, Pete Carroll said that Kendricks had a knee injury that could keep him out in Week 15, but it was later announced the injury was far worse. With appearances in just four games this season, his season — and perhaps NFL career — is now over.

Other notables

• The Buccaneers may not have had DeSean Jackson on offense, but they still have two former Eagles on defense. Beau Allen had one tackle in Tampa’s Week 14 contest, and Vinny Curry made three tackles and his first sack since September.
• With their young quarterbacks back in the mix, both Matt Barkley (Bills) and Chase Daniel (Bears) were active but did not play in Week 14.
• Raiders cornerback Daryl Worley was surprisingly ineffective on Sunday, lining up for 26 defensive and 4 special team snaps and recording zero tackles and just one pass defended. Despite being atop the depth chart on his return from suspension earlier this season, the young guys like Gareon Conley are starting to earn those snaps back.
• Torrey Smith was still limited last week due to a lingering knee injury, so despite being active on Sunday for the Panthers, he was only on the field for two snaps in their loss to Cleveland.
• Through 13 games this season, Kiko Alonso has had six games in which he’s recorded double-digit tackles, including Sunday’s win over the Patriots. The Dolphins’ linebacker claimed 10 more tackles to add to his growing resume and is on pace to at least come close to his rookie and career-high year of 159.

And, in coaching news...

I think we all know John DeFilippo was fired as the Vikings offensive coordinator after the team lost to the Seahawks in Week 14. There were a lot of opinions and reasons floating around for the odd timing of the decision, but regardless, Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson said that they aren’t currently interested in bringing him back.

DeFilippo isn’t the only former Eagles coach facing criticism as the season nears it’s end. Colts head coach Frank Reich is also earning his fair share of grumbles from people who think he’s (checks notes) too aggressive.

“Either way, Colts fans are learning something that is rather interesting. After years of loathing horribly conservative play-calling a fan base has been desperate for an aggressive leader. Now that they have one, the fan base has found itself wishing less for aggressive or conservative and more for intelligent decision-making.

Frank Reich is a first year head coach. He is a former backup quarterback who led the biggest comeback in NFL history. Reich is built to be aggressive. As a coach, he’ll need to be something else. He will need to be smart if the Colts are going to be put in the best position to win football games and make it to the playoffs.”
—Brett Mock, Stampede Blue

Asking Reich to be more conservative seems a bit surprising given most people knew what they were getting when the Colts hired him, but we’ll see how he finishes the year and works the offseason.