Philadelphia Eagles: Let’s hope Miles Sanders’ hand is okay

Miles Sanders has been running wild for the Philadelphia Eagles over the past few weeks.

Since returning from IR back at the end of November, Sanders is averaging 102.3 yards on 16.8 runs per game, even if he’s miraculously remained out of the endzone over that tenure.

Sanders has been running with poise, energy, and an eye for picking up positive yardage and has cut down on the negative plays that have at times plagued his still-young career. If Jalen Hurts/Nick Sirianni would just target the Penn State product a few more times per game in the passing game, we might be talking about Sanders as one of the elite young backs in the NFL.

So naturally, when Sanders exited the Eagles’ Week 16 bout against the New York Giants midway through with a hand injury, it put a damper on a game that started out ugly and then started to heat up in the third quarter.

Fingers crossed Sanders is okay for Philly’s second game against Washington in 12 days, as the team is going to need him down the stretch.

Miles Sanders is a pivotal cog in the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense.

For a weird period of time earlier this month, many a fan openly questioned how well Miles Sanders fit the Philadelphia Eagles’ rushing scheme. Jordan Howard was running wild, Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell provided some solid change-of-pace options coming off the bench, and the team’s offense exploded in efficiency once Sanders was out of the game plan.

What gives, many asked? Did Nick Sirianni simply not trust Sanders to pick up consistent yardage on the ground over the first month and a half of the season? And worse yet, would the team’s dominant rushing attack go the way of Zubaz once Sanders returned?

Well, as it turns out, things worked out just fine.

In the four full games since he’s returned, Sanders has had double-digit carries in all but one of them, and ironically enough, that game was a loss to the New York Giants. Jeff Stoutland has drawn up some incredible run-blocking concepts with downfield lead blocking from Jason Kelce, and the Eagles’ offense has never looked better as a result.

But now, if Sanders can’t go in Week 17, the Eagles will have to pivot back to what worked from Week 8-10, aka running the ball by committee.

Assuming Howard is good to go, as he also injured his shoulder versus the Giants, the Eagles will have a trio of solid rushing options on their active roster, plus Jason Huntley on their practice squad to pick up the slack until Sanders can go once more.

But hey, don’t count out Sanders just yet. With any luck, he’ll be back on the field next week.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ passing offense is still a work in progress. Dallas Goedert has been fantastic, as has DeVonta Smith, but outside of those two, it’s been some nice games by Quez Watkins, a touchdown once a month by Greg Ward, and the occasional good play by Jalen Reagor. But on the run? Yeah, the Eagles are darn near prototypical. While the team has proven they can keep things going without Miles Sanders on the field, their offense is unquestionably better with the pride of Penn State on the field, as he’s easily one of their five best offensive players. Fingers crossed for a clean bill of health!