Mike Wallace doesn’t know. How could he?
He’s never been in this situation before.
The Eagles’ 32-year-old receiver, who broke his fibula in Week 2, is clearly nearing a return. He’s been running routes, working out with trainers and the Eagles just designated him to return from injured reserve. So it appears he’s getting close, but this is all “uncharted territory” for Wallace.
In the first nine years of his career, Wallace had been remarkably healthy. He played at least 15 games in all nine seasons and said the worst injury he suffered before this one was a strained groin or hamstring.
So ask him if he thinks he’ll return Sunday against the Redskins and you’ll get an honest answer.
“I don’t know. I just got activated 20 minutes ago,” said Wallace, who was actually designated to come off IR on Monday. “I just take it day to day, see how I feel, just get back out there, get into a flow of things. I’m not sure. I feel like I can run, but it’s different when you get on a football field actually against other players.”
Since we’re so late in the season and Doug Pederson is trying to preserve his players’ bodies, the Eagles didn’t have a typical practice Wednesday. They instead had a walkthrough (Wallace was listed as limited), which means the Eagles will practice Thursday and Friday only this week. Those will be Wallace’s only opportunities this week to test his leg against real competition as he and the team try to make a determination about Sunday.
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Will he be able to tell at practice Thursday if he’ll be good to go?
I don’t know. This is my first time ever being hurt or coming back from injury. I don’t know what to expect. I just know I feel good every single day when I go in the bubble and when I go out and run routes. This is the next step, coming back and getting on the practice field, getting in front of some of these DBs, doing releases, getting off the line, getting back acclimated. That’s the first step.
I can’t say what’s going to happen Sunday. I might go out tomorrow and my leg don’t feel good. I might go out tomorrow and my leg feels great. We’ll just progress forward. I’m not sure. I don’t know what to expect, honestly. I know as of right now, I feel really good. I feel like I could get out there and play.
If the Eagles make the playoffs, it appears Wallace could be available to them. But making the playoffs isn’t a given. They need the Bears to beat the Vikings and they need to beat Washington. Maybe Wallace could help. Or maybe it would help the Eagles to get Wallace some action before the playoffs begin.
Wallace said he ultimately thinks it’ll be his decision if he’s ready to go or not, but again, he’s not sure. He’s never been in this spot before. But he made it clear he won’t force anything.
“I’m too late in my career to be forcing myself to play in any games,” he said. “My health is the most important thing to me. I want to make sure I can play with my kids and walk around and be healthy. That’s the most important thing to me. Obviously, this team is up there on my priority list to get back out there and contribute for them taking a chance on me in free agency. I want to reward them and show them I’m the player they thought I was.”
The Eagles have already had enough trouble acclimating Golden Tate to their offense since they picked him up at the trade deadline, so it’s fair to wonder if they’d even be able to find snaps for Wallace. But Wallace is a different kind of receiver. He’s the type of vertical threat the Eagles have sorely missed this season — at least he was before the injury. We won’t know if he’s that guy post-injury until he gets back on the field.
That’s the part that has been tough for Wallace. He has watched the Eagles’ missing the exact element he was supposed to bring. That’s been frustrating.
Even though Wallace is in Philly on a one-year deal, he wasn’t much interested Wednesday in talking about his up-in-the-air future. He’s trying to not look too far ahead, but it seems he’d be willing to return if both sides were agreeable.
I asked him if he liked it here.
“Love it,” he said. “Guys never treated me any different. From playing when I was in training camp with them. I got hurt. Every single day guys are positive with me, they give me good vibes. Coaches the same way. It was never a thing where I didn’t feel like I was on the team. I wasn’t even here long, but I always felt like I was a part of the team. I just thank my teammates and coaches for making me feel that way. It’s been great.”
We don’t know if we’ll see Wallace in an Eagles uniform again and if we do, we don’t know when that will be. He’s just happy to finally be nearing the end of his first major injury in a decade-long career.
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