Weekend Reading: Eagles Healthiest In NFL

Happy Fourth of July, everyone. Hope you are all having a happy and healthy one. Some links to pass along in case you need a quick fix:

The Eagles have been the healthiest team over the past two seasons, according to a metric created by Football Outsiders. BGN has more.

Spoiler alert: evidence would suggest Philadelphia’s sports science program has been able to keep the team very healthy. So healthy, in fact, that the Eagles are the healthiest team in the NFL the past two seasons…

Perhaps even more interesting than the Eagles being the most healthy team is the disparity between them and the New York Giants. The Giants have been bitten hard by the injury bug in recent years. Is it just bad luck? Maybe not. Check out this interesting quote from a recent interview Walter Thurmond did with Bleacher Report. Bold emphasis mine:

“Coach Coughlin is the same type of person, but we battled through injuries last season. Yes, he’s a little old-school, but he’s starting to come around to the times. He doesn’t believe in the sport-science aspect like Coach Carroll or Coach Kelly and the newfound technology for the players. His style takes a hit, because he doesn’t believe in this aspect. He believes in winning, but he doesn’t believe in the modern medicine to progress the players to that next level.

Coach Kelly is the front-runner and the most extroverted as it pertains to sport science with hydration and maximizing the full potential of the players.”

Alex Marvez of Fox Sports provided an update on Evan Mathis. More from CBS Miami.

Nearly a month after Evan Mathis was released by the Philadelphia Eagles and there hasn’t been so much as a nibble for the Pro Bowl guard despite his agent stating at least half a dozen teams expressed interest after he became available.

“I don’t want to say Drew Rosenhaus overplayed his hand because I don’t necessarily think he did,” Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez said on the Joe Rose Show. “What may have to happen here though is if he’s willing to agree to a contract where Evan gets paid on performance-based incentives and Evan can make money back that will get him above that 5.5 million threshold that he wanted with the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Jimmy Kempski of Philly Voice came up with over/unders for the Eagles upcoming season. Some that stood out:

1) Sam Bradford: 11.5 games played

Bradford doesn’t just have a pair of ACL tears on his resume. He has suffered a myriad of other injuries as well. Bradford has played more than 10 games in two of his five years in the NFL. Will Chip Kelly’s #SportsScience make a difference?

2) DeMarco Murray: 1250 rushing yards

Murray had 1845 rushing yards a year ago, and part of the reason for that was because Dallas ran him into the ground. In Philly, Murray has a far better complement of running backs around him in Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles, so expect his rushing numbers to come down drastically. Still, the Eagles could very well have the best overall rushing attack in the NFL in 2015.

6) Josh Huff: 450 receiving yards

Huff has much higher expectations heading into 2015, but I think that 450 receiving yards would actually be a nice progression for his career, considering the high number of other weapons in the Eagles’ offense.

14) Marcus Smith: 10 tackles

Last year he had none.

Mark Eckel of NJ.com created a list of the most underpaid Eagles. He has Vinny Curry at No. 1.

Curry is in the final year of his contract at $851,160. That’s peanuts for a guy who had nine sacks last year. As a free agent at the end of the year this is the last time Curry will make this list.

While Jason Kelce comes in second.

He’s in the middle of a seven-year, $40 million deal that will get better near the end (if he gets it), but for this year he’s making $3 million which is low for one of the best centers in the game.