Eagles' Medical Staff Changes Better Prevent Another Horrific Injury-Filled Season
By Jerry Trotta
You don't have to be a diehard NFL fan to know that the Philadelphia Eagles have struggled with injuries in recent seasons. In 2018, Football Outsiders ranked head coach Doug Pederson's side as the second-most injured team in the league. And we don't need to go into what happened last year.
In the simplest of terms, the Eagles cannot afford to see as many players shelved as they have in the last two campaigns, and they had better hope their medical staff changes from this offseason make a huge difference.
#Eagles hoping medical staff changes will reverse injury woes.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) May 23, 2020
Football Outsiders recently released rankings for games lost and the Eagles once again didn’t fare well.
But there are reasons to be optimistic about the numbers.
My column: https://t.co/Xt4lZIK8Nz
We all know that luck plays a factor when it comes to injuries, but the Eagles really could've done a better job to alleviate the risk. Pederson knocking his tendency to convince players to push through serious injuries sounds like a good place to start.
Philadelphia made two significant changes to help flip this concerning narrative by hiring former Minnesota Vikings coordinator of rehabilitation/assistant athletic trainer, Tom Hunkele, as its new director of sports medicine. Additionally, the franchise appointed former Los Angeles Rams director of strength training and performance, Ted Rath, as its new director of sports performance. Both individuals combine to have over 30 years of NFL experience.
Tom Hunkele, as Director of Sports Medicine, and Ted Rath, as Director of Sports Performance, will lead the #Eagles’ sports science, strength and training staffs.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) February 7, 2020
The Eagles also parted ways with director of high performance, Shaun Huls, as well as director of rehabilitation, Shireen Mansoori, this offseason.
The pieces are certainly in place for Philadelphia to see improvement on the injury front in 2020. If things don't change, well, then we might be forced to assume that the organization did something to offend the football gods.