Despite injuries, Philadelphia Eagles keep on winning

PHILADELPHIA -- Every team will be rattled by injuries in the National Football League. That's simply a byproduct of the bone-crushing sport these players compete in each week.

But the Philadelphia Eagles have been hit harder than most teams, already losing four key players for the season with injuries: All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters, linebacker Jordan Hicks, running back Darren Sproles and safety/special teams ace Chris Maragos.

Yet the Eagles continue to survive and thrive.

They defeated the San Francisco 49ers 33-10 on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field while improving to 7-1.

"We've been working so hard," Eagles cornerback Jalen Mills said. "This team has been fighting through adversity all year with injuries. ... It's been a whole thing all year, but we're winning. We're not celebrating too much. We're happy for today and we'll go back to work tomorrow. We just have to keep pushing through."

Depth has been a pleasant surprise for the Eagles, who already matched last season's victory total of seven.

With the litany of injuries, the Eagles have needed every bit of their depth.

"It's tough when you have good guys go down," defensive end Brandon Graham said. "You always miss those guys, but it's always the next man up. It's a credit to our bench. We have a bunch of guys ready to play. (Linebacker) Joe Walker came in and played good today."

Losing Hicks was a big blow in the middle of the defense, and the Eagles simply had to patch the unit together. It worked as the Eagles allowed 238 total net yards.

"I played two games prior to this, when Hicks went down, so we've had some time to build chemistry," linebacker Mychal Kendricks said. "We can still build on that chemistry, and we're not only building with each other, we're building with everyone on the field and every teammate in the locker room. The whole defense has to come together as people go down and people come in. The thing about our team is that we're really well prepared. That's the ones, twos and threes."

Despite the constant roster shakeup, the Eagles reached the halfway point of the season at 7-1, the best record in the league. They're 7-1 for the seventh time in franchise history and the first time since 2004 when they reached the Super Bowl.

"It's a blast right now," tight end Zach Ertz said. "We're having a lot of fun, we're playing extremely loose and we have a lot of confidence each and every week when we go out there. It is a fun group and everyone is playing loose and we have a lot of unselfish guys. Everyone cares about winning, so it is a really fun environment right now."