While checking up on the status of some of the veteran free agents still available to any interested takers (spoiler alert -- we’re writing on that subject for SportingNews.com), we learned that former Eagles tackle Jon Runyan currently is on track for a potential return to action later this month.
Runyan is still recovering from offseason microfracture surgery on his knee.
In early June, Runyan indicated that he has been in touch with some potential suitors.
“We’ve been in contact with a few teams,” Runyan told Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Everybody says the same thing: ‘What will you be able to do and when will you be able to do it?’ I don’t know that answer yet. I don’t know how my body is going to react to the next month. I have to get it right and when I do, people will be waiting for me.”
As we understand it, Runyan will indeed be ready to roll by late July.
Les Bown of the Philadelphia Daily News suggested on June 12 that the Eagles have kept the door open for a return by Runyan, whose position potentially will be filled by Shawn Andrews.
In his comments from early June, Runyan suggested that the team is taking a big risk by trusting that Andrews would be able to handle the job.
“He has missed more than two seasons in five years, so that is something you do have to worry about,” Runyan said. “I think sometimes he worries about how he’s going to feel down the road, and you can’t worry about those kinds of things. You have to go out and let it all loose. Don’t worry about that stuff because that’s not how you play the game. That’s how you get hurt, when you start worrying about that stuff.”
In our view, Runyan also could be a possible target of the Vikings, given that former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress is the head coach in Minnesota. The Vikings picked Phil Loadholt in round two of the 2009 draft; a year or so with Runyan on the roster might give Loadholt time to get his NFL legs established before being thrust into action.
