One of the less-talked about injuries that the 2018 Eagles dealt with was the loss of Rodney McLeod. Once McLeod suffered his torn ACL, Corey Graham was pressed into a starting role and the safety depth officially disappeared. The Eagles got so desperate with their safety issues that rookie Avonte Maddox had to switch from his natural cornerback position to safety. It was already hard enough for Maddox to adjust to the speed of the NFL, but now he had to learn two different positions (although Maddox fared pretty well the times he was pressed into safety action).
It has been just over 10 months since McLeod suffered his injury, and he still hasn't returned to full-team drills with the team yet (although he has participated in individual drills and 7-on-7). When talking with media about when he expects to return to an actual game, McLeod said he has one game he is trying to be ready for -- the third preseason game (against the Baltimore Ravens).
As McLeod mentions, the third preseason game is the final tune-up before the regular season, since the fourth game of the preseason is entirely dedicated to depth players trying to earn the final spots on the roster. He wants to get on the field then to make sure the rust is off for the regular season. However, he did mention that if he isn't ready for that game it wouldn't be the end of the world, as he has seven previous preseasons under his belt.
Eagles fans should see this as good news, as it shows that he is ready to return to action very soon. It sounds like he shouldn't miss Week 1 against Washington, which is the most important take away from this. If he were to miss time though the Eagles did upgrade their safety depth this offseason with the additions of Andrew Sendejo and Blake Countess.
