Today's injury report has a lesson: Wash your hands and cover your mouth.
That's the way to prevent the spread of illness.
Doug Pederson brought up those two measures on Friday when asked about the virus that's now going around the Eagles' locker room. Michael Bennett missed a practice earlier this week and Alshon Jeffery missed Thursday and is still sick.
"He's sick again," Pederson said on Friday morning. "Speaking to our doctors this morning, it's about a 24-48 hour deal. We're hoping it runs its course pretty soon."
The good news is that as long as Jeffery gets over this bug, he's still on track to make his season debut in Tennessee on Sunday afternoon. He had been healing from rotator cuff surgery he had in the offseason. Pederson mentioned the Eagles have a later flight on Saturday, so the team will be able to get Jeffery caught up on the practice time he's missed.
Last year, just before the Super Bowl, the Eagles had a sickness run through their locker room.
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The Eagles try to prevent illness spreading in much the same way a kindergarten class does:
Really, it starts with me when I start seeing it happen. Just addressing the team, making sure that we're washing hands and covering your mouth if you cough or sneeze. Whatever you can do. There's a lot of people, a lot of people in an organization, especially around a football team. Sometimes you have to quarantine a guy and maybe send him home with meds and get him hydrated and rested and hopefully he's back the next day. Take the proper steps to make sure that nobody else gets it.
So far, nobody else has gotten sick.
Darren Sproles
The veteran running back is going to miss his third straight game on Sunday with a hamstring injury he suffered after Week 1. Pederson said Sproles is "just not there yet."
With hamstring injuries, it's important to not rush back. Aggravating the injury can make it linger for entire seasons.
Jay Ajayi
No Sproles this weekend, but Ajayi will return on Sunday after missing one game after he got a small fracture in his back. It sounds bad, but Ajayi is going to play after letting the transverse process fracture heal for a week.
"It's a go-as-tolerated," Pederson said. "He's a tough kid and he's battled through it and really he's felt fine through it. So it might sound bad, but tough kid and he doesn't want to miss another one.
