Evan Mathis, Allen Barbre Likely to Miss Colts Game
Philadelphia Eagles left guard Evan Mathis has a sprained MCL, but will go for a second opinion on Wednesday.
Typical MCL sprains are 4-6 week injuries, but Mathis' is being labeled as more severe than the normal Grade one tear.
The injury happened in the second quarter of Sunday's win over the Jaguars. Mathis was engaged on the line with his man when LeSean McCoy was essentially tackled into the back of his legs.
Eagles right tackle Allen Barbre has been diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain. It's a week-to-week injury that will probable sideline Barbre at least for Week 2, and possibly even longer.
“We just kept playing," Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said. "We were playing for those guys. Those guys fight for me every single day and I was just going to keep grinding."
Fifth year man Andrew Gardner and second year man David Molk took over with Gardner moving from left guard, where he was inserted for Mathis, then out to right tackle when Barbre went down. Molk took over at left guard.
“The guys that came in [C David] Molk and [T Andrew] Gardner did a great job. They really gave me some protection and opened up some seams in the run game. They were fighting for those guys that went down. We have a great group of guys.”
Coach Chip Kelly believes Mathis can play again this season but if he cannot, the Kelly knows his team must be prepared to move on without him.
"We only have seven up on game day, so we'll make adjustments in terms of if he's out for an extended period of time what we have to do," Kelly explained. "We have two other guys that were down today, [T] Dennis [Kelly] and word is Matt Tobin will come back so, I don't know. It doesn't help anybody to speculate."
The Eagles seemed to have trouble initially protecting Nick Foles with the patch-work offensive line, but should improve with a week of practice under their belts.
The team will face a Colts team that will be missing top pass rusher Robert Mathis on Monday who is serving a four-game suspension by the league. The Colts got to Peyton Manning just one time on Sunday night.