Eagles in Wait-and-See Mode on Ronald Darby
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The Eagles most likely be without cornerback Ronald Darby again, for their Week 9 matchup against Denver. However, just like previous week, they’re plenty confident about his replacements with the way they've played this season in his absence. .
“I think they've handled it extremely well," Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday. "One thing that Coach Schwartz [Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz] does with the different personnel groups is getting them all involved and getting them all reps. You're seeing Jaylen Watkins and Rasul [Douglas] kind of rotate at corner. You're seeing Patrick Robinson start at corner and then move into the nickel. Then yesterday, when we lost Patrick, Dexter comes in. Jalen [Mills] is the one constant right now over on the other side [at corner]. But these guys are getting valuable reps. It's such an unselfish group. They don't really care as long as they get the job done. That's the bottom line. They're playing with a lot of confidence right now, too.”
Monday, Pederson told the media that while Darby is cleared for practice, there is more to it then just getting back on the practice field.
"It's not conditioning shape; it's football shape," Pederson said. "There's a difference. We can go out and run sprints all day, but it's the stopping and starting and the transitioning -- the football maneuvers. Those are the things we're working with him on. This will be another great week for him going forward in that direction. We'll see where he's at again at the end of the week."
Pederson said they think he can do more this week, but that doesn't mean he will be a go this week.
"I think he can do a little bit more in practice, but at the same time, he's another one that we've got to be careful and not rush him back out there. I want to make sure he's 100 percent and he's doing more and more football stuff. It goes back to the conditioning thing with him, just having him in football condition by the end of this week."