The Philadelphia Eagles have some momentum they are hoping to capitalize on. Playing on a short week, the team is preparing to face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night. After getting a needed NFC East win, the Eagles are set to play on a short week and injuries are a factor. With Sam Bradford already struggling in the passing game, losing wide receivers could hurt things in Week 7.
According to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Nelson Agholor will be out a second straight week as the rookie continues to nurse an ankle injury. Agholor has yet to really make an impact in the passing game as he struggled with inconsistencies in practice and then now with injuries creeping in. Losing Agholor again is not a huge loss for the team, but having Riley Cooper listed as questionable could be. Alper writes that Cooper is listed as questionable due to a knee injury suffered a couple of weeks ago. Cooper reportedly re-aggravated it on Monday in the win over the Giants and has not been at practice. Cooper led the team in receiving on Monday night and having him out could be bad.
With Cooper and Agholor either limited or out, pressure is on players like Josh Huff and Miles Austin to step up. Jordan Matthews has been quiet this season as he struggles with dropped passes, leaving Huff and Austin to pick up the slack with tight end Zach Ertz. Bradford has been having a hard time with interceptions, so those players will need to put forth their best game to help out.
"I'm not really sure where I thought I would be six games into [his return]," Bradford said, via ESPN.com. "You have expectations. You want to come out, you want to play well. You want to play to the best of your abilities. Would I like to have been a little sharper? Absolutely. At the same time, I think I've done some things really well. I'm just looking to continue to improve each week."
DeMarco Murray continues to be the biggest factor for the Eagles on offense right now, but the running back is not happy with how things have been going. While the defense is doing their job to stop or slow down opponents, the offense is not matching the production. Murray told the media that he feels like his old self again and likes having the weight on his shoulders, but everyone on the offense needs to do a better job at stepping up.
"Everybody's picking it up. Everyone has looked in the mirror and [said], 'I have to play better, we have to play better as a group,'" Murray said, via the team's website. "We had a huge win last week, and we need to make sure we carry on with that. We've been able to prepare tremendously these last couple days and had a great day of practice today. But I think we just have to continue to do the little things right, continue to work hard through the course of the week and make sure we're watching a lot of film and knowing the tendencies of the defense. Defensively, we've been playing great all year, and I think it's time offensively for us to match their play."
Week 7 will be big for the offense. The Panthers have a top defensive unit that is allowing just 18.8 points per game right now. Their linebackers will be targeting Murray as the lack of receiver depth for the Eagles could be an issue.
