Philadelphia Eagles: Losing Kamu Grugier-Hill is a double-doink
While losing any player to injury is a major bummer, Kamu Grugier-Hill’s Grade 3 MCL sprain is a double-doink for the Philadelphia Eagles.
After a relatively uneventful July, disaster struck the Philadelphia Eagles on their second and final tackle day of training camp in the worst possible way.
Midway through the team’s Saturday practice, their last practice before their first and only one of the summer at Lincoln Financial Field, Kamu Grugier-Hill, the team’s presumed starting weakside linebacker and special teams captain, was slow to get up after a hit by Jordan Howard and was carted off the field.
The diagnosis? A Grade 3 MCL sprain.
Now granted, this injury could have been a whole lot worse – and potentially season-ending – but even if Grugier-Hill doesn’t have to spend any time on IR, it’s still incredibly heartbreaking to watch a player on the verge of really establishing himself as four-down star go down in camp.
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Initially drafted in the sixth round as a box safety out of Eastern Illinois in 2016, KGH spent his first summer in the NFL as a member of the New England Patriots, before being waived in the final trim down to 53.
Howie Roseman, however, saw something he liked in the speedy weakside linebacking convert and claimed him off of waivers in his first summer back at the helm of the Eagles’ front office.
Spoiler alert, Grugier-Hill almost immediately vindicated that belief.
Though KGH almost exclusively played on special teams as a rookie, he consistently progressed with each passing game and eventually became a more consistent contributor for both Dave Fipp and Jim Schwartz – going from a single defensive snap in 2016, to 85 in 2017, to a career-high 328 (31 percent) in 2018.
And if the initial portion of training camp was of any indication, it looked like KGH could have eclipsed his career snap count just in time for his first crack at free agency in March of 2020.
With flashy performances and a newfound confidence of a front running favorite to win a starting spot next to Nigel Bradham and (presumably) Zach Brown, KGH was considered a player to watch with the preseason fast approaching, with many anointing the fourth-year pro a shoe-in to win the team’s weakside linebacker spot come Week 1.
Alas, after suffering a Grade 3 MCL sprain, that snap number may be a bit harder to reach.
Next. Miles Sanders could beat Jordan Howard out for No. 1 running back with Eagles. dark
While the Birds shouldn’t take too much of a hit if KGH is only out for a handful of weeks, as the team only really uses two linebackers with regularity, and players like LaRoy Reynolds, Nathan Gerry, and D.J. Alexander, it’s still a shame that the Philadelphia Eagles will be without Kamu Grugier-Hill for a segment of the 2019 regular season. I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer for that breakout moment four seasons in the making.