Wide receiver Jordan Matthews is listed as questionable on the Eagles' injury report for Sunday's game against Washington, but there are no questions in his mind: He's playing.
"Yeah, definitely," Matthews said on Friday at his locker at the NovaCare Complex after practice. "It's still a process as far as rehab and stuff, doing some stuff with the chiropractor, also doing some acupuncture, flow tank, a lot of different protocols, but at the same time it's that time of the season when guys have to gut through some things. I think one game is going to be enough for me (to miss), so I'm definitely going to try to get back out there on Sunday."
Matthews missed the first game of his football career -- at any level -- last Sunday when the Eagles lost in Cincinnati. A sprained ankle suffered in the game against Green Bay the Monday before was just too much to overcome, so Matthews watched, glumly, from the sidelines. A good week of rehabilitation with the team's athletic training staff and positive work on the field has Matthews feeling confident to play on Sunday.
The Eagles need him -- Matthews leads the team with 57 receptions for 686 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. The offense wasn't the same in the second half of the loss to Green Bay or the loss to the Bengals last Sunday.
"The week's gone good. I think everybody obviously realizes where we are in this season as a team, so guys have been extremely focused and ready to go out and get a must win, especially against a team that really had our number the first time this season," Matthews said. "That (27-20 loss to Washington on October 16) was probably the first game that we felt like an opponent actually came out and beat us, whereas those first couple of games that we lost we felt like we gave the game away. Washington had our number that first time so we need to come out and make a statement and playing extremely well against them Sunday."
This hasn't been the easiest of seasons physically for Matthews, who played through an early-season back injury -- which happened during a squat exercise in the weight room -- before he suffered the sprained ankle against Green Bay.
"It could always be worse. I'm still blessed and still extremely anxious to get back out there and play with my guys," Matthews said.
