Report: Eagles make more changes to the medical staff and department hierarchy

The Eagles continue to make changes to their medical staff just a year after a big shakeup to that area of the team.

Tim McManus of ESPN is reporting that Arsh Dhanota, medical director of non-operative sports medicine at Penn Medicine, will act as chief medical officer. A new position for the Eagles organization, Dhanota will oversee all medical staff and communication dissemination throughout.

And, it’s not just changes at the top, but the team has also cut ties after just one year with head team physician and head internist Stephen A. Stache, according to McManus.

The changes shouldn’t be entirely surprising given the number of injuries that plagued the team last season, especially as they headed into the playoffs. By the end of the postseason run, the team had 19 players on the IR and PUP lists combined, with several of those sidelined for far longer than initially anticipated.

Bleeding Green Nation’s Michael Kist did a deep dive into the injuries and the effects, and it wasn’t exactly encouraging.

“The Eagles ranked 31st in AGL in 2018, making their success highly improbable. How improbable? Their AGL score for playoff teams from 2013-2018 is bested (worsted? is that a word?) by the one-and-done Washington Redskins in 2015. In that same span, the Eagles had the worst score of any team that won a playoff game.”

Furthermore, former players have been fairly vocal about their medical mistreatment by the team over the years, including Emmanuel Acho — who continues telling stories — and Jordan Matthews.

There’s nothing a new staff can do about the banged up 2018 season, but making changes and adding a bit of hierarchy to the overall medical department within the organization at least shows a commitment by the coaches and front office to keeping the guys healthy.

After all, a healthy team has a much better chance of making it back to the Super Bowl than one consumed by injuries — soft tissue or otherwise.