Philadelphia Eagles sixth round pick JaCorey Shepherd has suffered a torn ACL that has ended his season. Shepherd is only 22 but is now faced with a career altering injury.
The injury took place when Darren Sproles caught a swing pass and Shepherd came down to cover him. He then collided with Sproles near the sideline; Sproles was unharmed and stayed on his feet. Shepherd remained on the field for several minutes before being carted off. Shepherd was expected to fill Brandon Boykin's role however with this injury the Eagles suddenly become very thin at cornerback.
Boykin was traded last week to the Steelers so this injury hurts a little more than it would have if the Eagles kept Boykin on the roster. Shepherd has taken more first team reps than any other player in the nickel corner formation in training camp and was expected to contribute heavily this season. Jaylen Watkins is expected to replace Shepherd at nickel cornerback. Watkins is a fourth round pick who only played in four games in the 2014 season.
This has been a rough offseason for the Eagles who also saw linebacker Kiko Alonso go down with a concussion last week. Alonso was the player who came to the Eagles when Chip Kelly traded LeSean McCoy to the Bills in the beginning of the offseason. These trades are beginning to have an effect on this team but probably not in the way Kelly envisioned.
