In the last year, the medical staff of the 76ers has been questioned plenty about the handling of several of its players.
So it might have raised a few eyebrows on Thursday morning when Eagles de facto GM Howie Roseman said the Eagles can learn some lessons from the Sixers as the Eagles deal with injured second-round cornerback Sidney Jones.
"We can really take cues from the team across the street in some of the things they've done for some of their players who have missed time," Roseman said on 94WIP.
The Sixers!?
Before lighting torches and grabbing pitchforks, it's important to note that Roseman was asked for further clarification, and he provided it. He was talking about the way the Sixers kept Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid involved with the team while they missed full seasons.
"Those are a bunch of smart guys, they did it two years in a row," Roseman said. "Just watching those guys and how big a part they were of the franchise, of the team. You learn lessons from everyone and it was a great observation for us to have in the same city."
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Roseman said the Eagles are going to treat Jones, who suffered an Achilles tear at his pro day before the Eagles used the 43rd pick on him, as the 54th man on the roster.
"He's going to be in every meeting," Roseman said. "He's going to be a part of the team."
Thursday marks a big day in the Jones timeline. He'll finally report to the NovaCare Complex with the rest of the team's rookie class, offering team doctors and trainers the first chance to get a closer look at him in some time.
The Eagles still haven't given any type of timetable for his return. All the team and Jones have said is that they're taking things slowly.
"When he comes in today, our doctors, our trainers, will go through the whole battery of tests," Roseman said. "What they'll basically do is put together an itinerary about where he is and the steps he needs to take to get back on the field."
Roseman said before Jones' injury there was "no question" the CB would have been a possible choice for the team with the 14th pick. In fact, Roseman said Jones was a top-10 player on their draft board.
Before the injury, Roseman said Jones was one of the few guys who was completely clean in terms of medical and character concerns. In a class where there were many players with "red flags," teams needed to dig into those concerns.
The Eagles are confident Jones will be able to recover and get back to the player they once thought was a top-10 talent, but it will take time to see if they're right.
"For us to get back to the point where we want to be, we need to match up first with the talented receivers in our division; there are some talented receivers in our division," Roseman said. "And it's hard to find guys that have the skillset, the height, the length, the ball skills, the speed to be able to cover those guys."
But first Jones will need to recover and ... trust the process.
