The Eagles haven’t really ruled anything out at kicker this week, including not using one all that much. Well, actually, that’s not true. They have ruled out using a linebacker again.
With Jake Elliott in the concussion protocol, the Eagles are in wait-and-see mode for this week’s game against the Bears.
Via Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Eagles coach Doug Pederson said he’s not sure what they’re going to do yet, since they don’t know if Elliott will be cleared by an independent neurologist by the weekend.
“I think moving forward, as we continue to evaluate this week, we’ll find out more in the next couple days with Jake, and I don’t want to put myself in a box, but we’ll keep all the options open,” Pederson said. “It kind of goes back to the same old thing. We still have a couple days here today and tomorrow to evaluate Jake and see where everybody’s at. There’s still a little while before we play Sunday.”
They have a few options, including activating Caleb Sturgis from injured reserve. But Pederson suggested they’ve settled on Elliott as their long-term answer at kicker, so using one of their return from IR spots on a temp might not be the way they want to go.
Pederson also didn’t rule out the possibility of continuing to go for two.
They were successful on 3-of-4 attempts Sunday against the Cowboys, and are 9-of-12 on conversions under Pederson.
“Yeah, I have,” Pederson said when asked if he’d consider staying that aggressive. “You always go into a game with a few (plays) in your pocket. You never expect that situation again like we had last night. But, yeah, you look at the numbers. If you’re around 94, 95 percent on the extra point from the 15-yard line, your conversion rate should be in that 47, 48, 49 percent on a two-point conversion. So we look at all of that.
“We keep a couple extra plus-five red zone plays in our pocket for that situation. It just worked out, I think 3-for-4 last night. It’s something we’ll look at going forward.”
They have ruled out linebacker Kamu Grungier-Hill, who kicked off Sunday night but didn’t get a chance at a field goal or an extra point after he missed the practice net during his emergency warmup.