Another day, another practice for the Birds to get themselves ready for Sunday afternoon’s big home tilt against the Minnesota Vikings.

Five big names didn’t practice, while Jason Peters was limited yesterday:

It’s still early to determine if all of these guys will be out. I would think Cox and Jeffery will be fine for Sunday, as well as Peters. Barnett is an interesting addition to the list, while who knows how serious Clement’s quad is and how long Sproles requires until he returns.

On the other side of the ball, the Vikings had some notable players miss practice:

Dalvin Cook’s hamstring has bothered him for most of this season and he missed Week 3 due to the injury. He played last Thursday night against the Rams but only had 10 carries for 20 yards, all in the first half. And he’s admitted it’s not 100%. Everson Griffen probably won’t play either.

It’s another great opportunity for the Birds to bounce back from their bad performance against the Titans last week. They honestly really haven’t been impressive so far in 2018. Their most dominant game was probably the Falcons nail-biter, but an outstanding performance overall could change the tide and give the team that jump-start they need.

Elsewhere, Jason La Canfora is pushing the Le’Veon Bell-Eagles rumors. He says they’ve been mulling a Bell trade “for a while now.”

Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox made Pro Football Focus’ first quarter All-Pro team.

Dallas Goedert paid his side of a bet with Carson Wentz:

The Roundup:

The Flyers regular season begins tonight out west where they’ll take on the Vegas Golden Knights. Puck drop will be around 10 PM on NBCSN.

They’re a team that looks to be ready to win now, and perhaps get a late push from Carter Hart:

The reason for the optimism was the Flyers going 27-13-7 over their last 47 games, after beginning the season 15-13-7, and seemingly no direction. That’s when Flyers’ coach Dave Hakstol made the brilliant move of pairing defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere with rising star Ivan Provorov.

“I think this team is similar to last year, but a little bit more advanced,” said NHL analyst Keith Jones, who also does color for local Flyers’ broadcasts. “I really like the way van Riemsdyk has looked and the way he carries himself. He’s obviously a much mature player than when he was here before. He has a certain air of confidence, which should boost the confidence of this team improving upon last year.

“What Hextall wants is working. We saw guys like Konecny and Nolan Patrick emerge in the second half of last season. Those are probably the most encouraging things, the younger players emerging at a very rapid rate. Those players will be the difference makers in how far this club advances from what it did last year.

“What you hope is that there is a real sour taste in the player’s mouths for how they went out last year against Pittsburgh. They were a closer team to Pittsburgh than how they represented themselves. You just have to hope that’s part of the growing experience against a club that won two-straight Stanley Cups. The players may not have realized how close they were.

“Being the regular-season champ of the Metropolitan Division can happen. They’re not that far off.”

An under-the-radar player on the roster is Mikhail Vorobyev. And he could definitely change things with his addition to the big club.

There’s a petition out to replace the Frank Rizzo mural with one of…Gritty.

The Sixers continue to spend time in China where they’ll have a basketball game to play tomorrow against the Mavericks. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 AM on the east coast.

JJ Redick is questionable to play with gastroenteritis.

Bill Simmons, noted Celtics fan and Sixers hater, put some disrespect on Markelle Fultz’s name.

The Phillies season is done, but the news isn’t. And it was a wild day for Gabe Kapler.

First, he had a heated interview with Angelo Cataldi on the WIP Morning Show. Later in the day, he was named in the FBI’s investigation of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The team is also hiring more analytics people.

Get all your Phillies needs with the first offseason edition of Crossed Up.

Harry Mayes talked to Kyle and Russ on the Crossing Broadcast and discussed his time at The Fanatic and what could be next.

Beasley Media Group, the company that owns 97.5 The Fanatic, purchased the rights to an e-sports show.

In other sports news, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton helped the Yankees crush the A’s 7-2 in the AL Wild Card game.

The Miami Heat are pushing to get Jimmy Butler from the Timberwolves.

Auston Matthews lifted the Maple Leafs in overtime, while the Capitals started their Stanley Cup defense with a 7-0 win over the Bruins.

In the news, a man was killed in a drive-by shooting in Fox Chase.

One officer is dead and seven others are wounded in a shooting in South Carolina.