Eagles rookie safety Earl Wolff, in spite of sounding confident he'll make a Saturday return, did not practice Wednesday. Image courtesy of Philly.com
Anyone who witnessed with Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten and Dez Bryant did to Patrick Chung and the Eagles secondary on Sunday night understands the value of rookie safety Earl Wolff.
In Wolff's absence, having suffered a relapse of his knee injury suffered in November 10th at Lambeau Field in the home-finale against the Chicago Bears two weeks ago, Witten and Bryant went off.
Accounting for 20 catches for 234 yards and a touchdown, the Cowboys pair of deep threats exposed Chung, especially late in the game when the outcome hung in the balance.
Saturday's NFC wild card playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field presents arguably the Birds toughest test from the tight end position all season, in the form of Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints.
As if future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees wasn't enough of a challenge, Graham accounted for 86 catches, 1,215 yards and a league leading 16 touchdown receptions this season.
It's easy to see how much value the Eagles fifth-round draft choice could provide to alleviate some of the concern over the Saints' aerial attack.
The problem is, Wolff's words are not quite matching up with the actions on the practice field so far this week.
"I just have to be comfortable out there," Wolff said, sounding confident about a return on Tuesday. "I felt like I could have went out there Sunday, possibly, but it wasn't the best decision for the team. I felt like I would have hurt the team more than I helped the team."
However, in spite of there not being any structural damage to his knee, Wolff did not practice on Wednesday and admitted earlier in the week that playing last Sunday in Arlington may have been necessary in his recovery.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
