Brandon Graham’s limited practices have alighted new hope in everyone’s hearts. Graham, who tore his triceps in Week 12 of the regular season, has yet to return since enduring the injury. Despite the setbacks that the longest-tenured Eagle has faced in the past year, Dave Zangaro believes that he’ll find a way to play.
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CSN’s Philadelphia Eagles coverage team, Zangaro, and Reuben Frank, made the trip down to New Orleans in preparation for the Eagles showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIX this Sunday. When discussing the likelihood of the Eagles’ pass rusher seeing playing time in the championship game, they were rather torn.
“He’s one of my favorite guys but I think it’s going to be tough for him,” Frank claimed.
Zangaro was a little more optimistic than Frank, given that Graham recently participated in two limited practices, as he said,
“I think he’s playing… He finally took some team reps on Saturday… I don’t know how much it will be, but I think it’s trending that way… I think he can give them 10 good snaps.”
Believing that Graham’s on-field presence alone could provide a boost to the team’s morale, Frank found himself in agreement. “If he can give them 10 to 12 good snaps, I’m all for it,” he concluded.
Totaling 3.5 sacks prior to his injury, Graham could prove to be a force if he’s able to step out and compete.
As Zangraro pointed out, Graham did begin to participate in team activities last week. Despite the 36-year-old veteran believing that his season was over, Philadelphia announced on Thursday that they would be opening the 21-day practice window for the defensive end to make a return for the Super Bowl.
Graham’s teammate, Jordan Mailata, at the Eagles’ most recent press conference, claimed that “He looked like his old self again.”
The second-team all-pro left tackle also touched on what it would mean to the locker room to see Graham compete, noting “It’s pretty special that he could come back for us at this moment.”
The former Super Bowl champion will be testing his physical limits should he take the field on Sunday, as the average time to fully recover from a torn triceps is estimated to be five to six months. Graham’s injury occurred on November 25th, less than three months ago.
From a sports medicine standpoint, Graham would be taking a risk in suiting up, however, if there was ever something worth putting your body on the line for, would it not be a Lombardi trophy? The NFL’s most prestigious trophy is at the center of every player’s football dreams. Considering Graham is closer to retirement than not, he may believe it to be worth it to risk it all for one last chance at gridiron glory.
The Eagles’ DE will have one more week to test his strength before allowing the franchise to make a decision. Until then, his status will continue to be monitored closely.
