Miles Sanders feels ‘back to myself' as he prepares for return

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The Eagles’ offense should get a big boost on Sunday against the Giants with the return of Miles Sanders.

Sanders has missed the last two games with a knee injury but he’s ready to go.

“I feel good. I feel back to normal, back to myself,” Sanders said on Friday. “I’m ready to get out there and stack these wins up.”

The next question is about workload. Will Sanders step back in after three weeks off and assume his usual pie slice of snaps and touches?

The cause for concern here comes from earlier in the season. When Sanders returned from an injury that kept him out of most of training camp and the opener, he got fatigued in his first game back. So that’s something the Eagles will watch pretty closely on Sunday.

“We have to monitor him,” Doug Pederson said. “We got to make sure that we don't see the signs of fatigue with him, but we haven't seen any this week in practice. He's done a nice job, and we get through today and I think, again, optimistic he'll be good to go.”

For what it’s worth, Sanders said he feels good about his conditioning this week and he doesn’t feel like he’s missed a step.

Sanders got hurt on that long run against the Ravens back on Oct. 18 — the one where he fumbled and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside scooped it up in the end zone for a touchdown. That 74-yarder was the longest run of Sanders’ career but it ended with an injury.

“I landed on the back of my knee and it twisted in an awkward position,” Sanders said. “But I’m back to normal. I feel good.”

When he’s been on the field this season, Sanders has averaged 105 scrimmage yards per game and he’s been on the verge of a really good season if he could just stay on the field.

This was supposed to be a true breakout season for the 2019 second-round pick but injuries haven’t allowed that so far. While he’s been productive when on the field, Sanders played just five of eight games in the first half.

“Definitely frustrating, especially coming into the season missing the season opener,” Sanders said. “And then getting on a good little start, doing whatever I can to help the team, and I ended up getting set back a little more. It was definitely frustrating. I would be lying if it wasn’t. Got to look at the good out of it. Boston (Scott) and Corey (Clement) and Jason (Huntley) have been carrying the load and they’ve been doing a great job of it, though.”

But Sanders changes the offense.

If Sanders is able to play the entire second half of the season keeping on his pace from the games he played in the first half, he’s on pace for 1,129 rushing yards, 237 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. That would be a pretty good season and a nice step up from his rookie season when you factor in the games missed.

But there’s also the chance that if Sanders is able to get rolling in the second half he’ll be able to do even more. He’s just gotta stay healthy.

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