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It’s only been one month since the Philadelphia Eagles played their last game (the Super Bowl). There are still six months until the start of the 2018 NFL season.
But it’s never too early to start getting excited. Especially after you watch this video recently posted by Jason Peters which features a number of the Eagles’ 2017 injured reserve players grinding hard in the gym to get ready for next season.
In order of appearance: Chris Maragos, Carson Wentz (nicknamed “The General” by Peters), Destiny Vaeao, Jay Ajayi, Jordan Hicks, a guy I don’t recognize whom I assume might be an associate of Peters’, and then JP himself.
Vaeao and Ajayi didn’t finish the season on IR, so I wonder if they had some lingering issues that explain why they’re still working out in Philly.
As for Wentz, Peters, Maragos, and Hicks, their seasons were obviously all cut short due to injury in 2017. It’s a shame they weren’t able to play in the game where the Eagles won their first Super Bowl title. Hopefully that just has them hungry to help the Birds become the first team to repeat as Lombardi Trophy winners since the New England Patriots (whom the Eagles beat in this year’s Super Bowl) in 2003-2004.
At the very least, you can tell they’re putting the work in.
Here are some more workout videos from Peters’ Instagram page.
The Eagles are not cutting or trading Peters, by the way.
One notable 2017 injured reserve player missing from these videos is impending free agent Darren Sproles. Sproles has been working out at home on the West Coast ever since getting hurt. Here’s a look at how he’s doing in his recovery from an ACL tear.
Mighty Mouse Darren Sproles isnt ready to retire. Wants to keep playin
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 20, 2018
He’s a free agent. But
Almost ready to go. He watched film of all of the Eagles RBs after he got hurt and kept giving them good advice and helped coach them#FlyEaglesFly
@DarrenSproles pic.twitter.com/MaRgA7A65Y
Not bad, huh?
It remains to be seen if the Eagles will re-sign Sproles. For what it’s worth, he did post a video of himself saying “We going back next year” in the locker room after the Super Bowl.
You heard it here first people Darren Sproles is coming back next year “WE going back next year” pic.twitter.com/SdT6MF2GYK
— vincent marinaro (@MarinaroVincent) February 6, 2018
It’s still pretty crazy to think the Eagles were able to win a championship despite missing a number of their best players. Getting those guys back has the potential to make Philadelphia even more threatening to the rest of hte NFL.
(Hat tip to Justin Grasso on this story)