On Saturday the Philadelphia Eagles had their first training camp practice that involved putting on the pads and enduring some contact. As we all know such contact usually results in a player or two getting banged up. Saturday’s practice resulted in two Eagles players falling to injury — receiver Riley Cooper who suffered a broken collarbone and 2012 Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Babin who strained his calf.
Babin was expected to go to have a MRI to find out the severity of his calf strain, however, an ingested thermometer three-fourths of an inch long needed to be naturally extracted prior to having the MRI.
Philly Sports Nut has learned from a source close to Babin that the thermometer has finally been removed and Jason went for his scan. The prognosis, a level two tear in his calf that will force Babin to miss four to six weeks.
Eagles coach Andy Reid stated that the injury looked pretty serious saying; ““I think he tweaked it pretty good. I wouldn’t expect him back here this week. I think he’s going to need some time on that. It’s not an Achilles’ tendon, though. That was one of the questions. It was not an Achilles’ tendon.”
There is never a good time for a player to drop due to injury, no Eagles fan wants to see any player fall for any reason. And the main purpose of training camp is to knock the rust off, get re-acquainted with the playbook and learn fellow players subtle movements that all benefit each other in the long run. But if there is one positive note here it is the timing. Babin is the kind of athlete who remains generally active all offseason and he already has a tremendous understanding of the wide-9 technique — 18 sacks in 2012 — enough said. So if Jason misses the entire six weeks he should still be ready to go for the start of the regular season.
This will allow the remaining defensive ends battling for the rotation spot to show what they have to bring to the table. Third year end Brandon Graham is in much need of the playing time after some have dubbed him a first-round bust. Graham has been stellar in camp up to this point and hopes to quiet his critics this season. Darryl Tapp, 2012 second-round pick (59th overall) and life-long Eagles fan Vinny Curry has showcased a remarkable non-stop motor so far in camp and has a shot at seeing some playing time in 2012. And former CFL super-star Phillip Hunt is also in the mix.
Each of those players will have no less than four weeks to impress defensive line coach Jim Washburn. As for Babin, I have no doubt that when he is healthy enough to be cleared to play again he should be able to step right back in to the swing of things.
Still, you never quite know how long this type of injury could linger. Lets hope this is the last Babin will feel the impact of this injury.
Original Story:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Philly...
|
August 01, 2012
