Philadelphia Eagles: Losing Sidney Jones is a cruel blow

After finally awarded a chance to start a whole game on the outside, losing Sidney Jones to injury is a cruel blow for the Philadelphia Eagles.

At this point, you have to feel bad for third year Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Sidney Jones.

After finally slotting into the Eagles’ starting left corner spot – the spot he was initially drafted out of Washington to occupy – Jones spent the back half of the first half of a pivotal Week 4 bout against the Green Bay Packers in the injury tent – before officially being ruled out for the remainder of the game at halftime.

Now granted, losing Jones didn’t immediately sink the Eagles’ secondary, as he was pretty thoroughly torched during the first quarter by high man on the game Davante Adams, but it robbed Howie Roseman and the front office of a vital opportunity to see what they have in an unencumbered starting outside role against a Hall of Fame quarterback.

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With Ronald Darby out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury, it looked like Jones would finally have a chance to ditch his platoon-ic relationship with fellow 2017 draftee Rasul Douglas and finally establish himself as the Birds’ top cornerback on a rookie contract (more on that here).

But alas, it simply was not meant to be.

Without Jones, the Birds has to reply on the green pairing of Douglas and Avonte Maddox on the outside and were thoroughly torched by Matt Lafleur‘s passing game – paving the way for a potentially Week 4-best performance by Adams on the outside.

While this shouldn’t be too surprising, as Maddox was miscast on the outside at only 5-foot-9, and Douglas can’t keep up with any receiver between the 20s because of his 4.59 speed, an extra 30-50 snaps of Jones on the outside could have been pivotal for his projection with the team long-term – especially with a potential trade for Jalen Ramsey on the table (more on that here).

Who knows, maybe Jones could have picked up his second interception in as many weeks – doubling his career total to two.

But unfortunately, we will never know how Jones would have held up in the second half at Lambeau Field – another victim of a tweaked hamstring.

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Will this game specifically be enough for the Philadelphia Eagles to finally own up to their deficiencies and make a long-term investment in a trade for a proven shutdown cornerback? Only time will tell, but if Jones too is expected to miss extended time (more on that TBD), the Eagles can’t get along comfortably with a starting cornerback trio of Rasul Douglas, Avonte Maddox, and *gulp* Craig James. Howie Roseman, I think you know what to do.

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