Josh Sweat Elaborates on "Serious" Issue that Kept Him Out of Playoff Game
You’ve probably forgotten about the Eagles’ playoff loss since the game stunk, but maybe you’ll recall that Josh Sweat didn’t play in Tampa because of a late medical issue.
Tuesday, he added some detail to what actually happened, and Jeff McLane at the Inquirer transcribed most of the quote:
“It was serious,” Sweat said. “I had a lot of internal bleeding. It was enough to keep me out.”
The 25-year-old edge rusher explained how he suddenly felt light-headed and experienced pain in his abdominal area while he was seated on his couch at home. He insists the injury wasn’t caused by anything football-related; he also mentioned that team doctors believe it won’t be a recurring issue.
“It just came out of nowhere,” Sweat said. “Don’t really know how. There were no signs. It just kind of happened. … It didn’t happen on the field. I was just chilling at the house. It just happened. I started feeling my abdomen get heavy when I stood up. … I kind of had an artery open up a little bit, so it just kept bleeding. They cauterized it, closed it up.”
He just had an artery open up a little bit? Jesus. That sounds horrendous. Internal bleeding? Pretty sure that’s a death metal band or death metal song, but glad he’s okay. Sweat went on to say that the issue is taken care of and described himself as being back to 100% readiness.
Jonathan Gannon also spoke on Tuesday and the writers did a good job trying to get him to open up a little bit about scheme. They asked about James Bradberry playing zone vs. man and Gannon was pretty vague, offering this in response:
“He is a very versatile player. [He’s] smart, tough, physical, can get the ball, can cover. Anytime you have that type of skill set with your outside corners, it’s a good asset to have. He allows us to play certain things predicated on what we’re trying to stop that week, as [CB Darius] Slay does, [and] as all those guys do. That’s why you look for complete players. Can they play off? Can they press? Can they play with vision? Can they play with man eyes?
He does all that, and really with that type of player, it gives you flexibility with some of the coverages that you can play, which I like flexibility with coverages.”
The evidence points to 3-4 base this season. We haven’t seen much of anything on the field yet, but with the Jordan Davis and Haason Reddick additions, it seems like that’s what they’re going to work out of. There was also this:
Practice video showing Josh Sweat as stand up rusher 👀
I need more of that in the upcoming season!#Eaglespic.twitter.com/V0a7qArihx
— Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) May 24, 2022
This is all very intriguing. Gannon started mixing and matching coverages and defensive fronts about halfway through last season despite starting in conservative Cover 2, so one of the biggest storylines is how he’s going to approach things in year #2 with much better talent to work with.