by Brandyn Campbell
Todd Herremans is out for the season.
(Image via Barstool Sports)
The issues for Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line got even worse on Wednesday when right guard Todd Herremans was placed on injured reserve with a broken foot, ending his season.
We knew the situation wasn’t good when Herremans was carted off the field on Monday night. He appeared in the locker room on crutches following the game. But as the Birds’ season grows more and more desperate, we needed some measure of hope. Surely, somehow, Herremans would be okay.
Perhaps he will be, but not this season. Official word from the Novacare Wednesday afternoon confirmed our fears: Todd Herremans would go to IR. In his place, the Eagles promoted Julian Vandervelde from the practice squad, a lineman the Eagles had cut just before the start of the regular season.
Evan Mathis is now the only starter still standing on the line. The Daily News’ Paul Domowitch called the mix-and-match mayhem “Evan Mathis and the Pips.” To call them “porous” almost sounds too positive. They can’t block a thing.
Mike Vick continues to take a beating behind them each and every time he gets on the field. Monday night marked a season high 7 sacks on Vick with the line yet again performing abysmally against the blitz. Which means that the Eagles had better be prepared to see a lot of it from Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Sunday.
Mike Vick is surviving as best he can. “I just gotta believe in the guys in front of me,” he said on Wednesday.
For the season, Vick has already been sacked a whopping 27 times. That’s four more than all of last year and we’re just past the halfway point of the season. And that number doesn’t include the dozens of hits the quarterback has taken.
The question is always, What can this team do to improve. Are there any answers to turn this thing around?
Vick says all he and his teammates can do is to keep on keepin’ on.
“Keep fighting. Preparation is very important. Don’t let up. We’re going to catch a break here sooner or later. This week has to be the week.”
“It’s not the funnest thing in the world to get hit over and over and over again. But I keep getting up. And I thank God that he blessed me with the ability to keep getting up, keep fighting, keep battling for this football team.”
“That’s why I continue to go as hard as I can and continue to make each and every play that I can. Even though I sometimes find myself doing too much and overcompensating.”
The Eagles’ o-line woes point to one of the biggest conundrums for the Birds for the remainder of the season. Many want to see Vick benched in favor of rookie Nick Foles, and that may well happen at some stage. But even if Foles displays the same promise now as he did during the preseason, how long do you expect him to hold up behind this line?
With four straight losses, things clearly weren’t going well for the Eagles even with Todd Herremans in the lineup. His season-ending injury adds to a long list of issues that makes it hard to see how there is any realistic possibility of the Eagles having anything but a miserable remainder of the 2012 season.
But if they can just get a win against Dallas it will all be just a lil’ easier to handle.
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Brandyn Campbell of Philly Sports Muse, for War room Sports
