Matthews: I’ll ‘For Sure’ Return For Regular Season
Jordan Matthews. (Jeff Fusco)
After Jordan Matthews went down in practice a couple of weeks ago with a knee injury and Zach Ertz had to be tested for a concussion, the tight end expressed his frustration about how the Eagles’ rookies were hitting during practice.
But Matthews said today, in his first media availability since his injury, he’s not upset with Jalen Mills’ low hit.
“I’m not the type to get mad. Getting upset or anything isn’t going to help my knee get any better,” Matthews said. “Right after it happened, Jalen came up to me and was like, ‘Yo bro, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.’ I just looked at him and was like, ‘It’s cool, bro. I’m fine.’ I’m just not the type to get pissed off about that. It’s football.
“And just knowing him, Jalen is an aggressive guy and he wants to play hard, and so you got to think about the situations he’s in, too, before you even think about mine. You got a rookie who was drafted in the seventh round — probably shouldn’t have been drafted in the seventh round — wanting to make an NFL team. He’s in a full-contact drill. It’s instinct.
“Do I think he meant to hit me low? I don’t know, probably did; that’s what they’re coached to do on screens — they break it up by cutting. Do I think he was trying to hurt me? No, obviously not. So I spent less time trying to be upset with him and more time trying to say, ‘OK, what’s the situation going on with my leg right now?’ And then saying, ‘OK, how do I get back?'”
It’s unclear when Matthews will return and if he’ll play in the preseason, but he said he’ll “for sure” be good to go for the regular season. The 24-year-old, who played through a painful hand injury last season, added that the Eagles’ two preseason games are the only games he’s missed in his entire life since he began playing sports.
Walker ‘Frustrated,’ Grymes Unsure Of Timetable
Joe Walker was just running down the field covering a kickoff on the final play of the first half Thursday night when he tore his ACL. He didn’t get hit, and he wasn’t preparing to deliver one himself, so he isn’t sure how, exactly, his injury happened.
“I’m frustrated with myself, but there’s nothing I can really do. Felt good to be out there for at least one preseason game. I’m trying to take a positive out of it, you know?” Walker said. “It’s difficult coming out here and trying to compete, and then having something like this happen.”
Walker said this is the first time he’s suffered a season-ending injury, and he doesn’t know when he’ll have surgery. Doug Pederson noted earlier today that undrafted free agent Don Cherry will take Walker’s spot as the backup middle linebacker, although the Eagles may bring in someone else.
Aaron Grymes also hurt himself during the second quarter in Pittsburgh, although he doesn’t know the extent of his right shoulder injury. He knows he’s out this week and he’ll likely be out next week as well, but he expects to find out conclusively today or tomorrow.