Eagles Today

Eagles' Throwback Suffers Serious Knee Injury

Ben VanSumeren is believed to have suffered a season-ending knee injury at Friday's practice.

John McMullen

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Ben VanSumeren.
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Ben VanSumeren. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
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PHILADELPHIA - Eagles’ throwback Ben VanSumeren suffered what is believed to be a significant season-ending knee injury at practice on Friday, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

A linebacker by trade, VanSumeren served as one of the backups for Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun but his main impact this season was on special teams and as a fullback on offense.

A second-year player out of Michigan State via Michigan the wildly athletic BVS played in all 11 games during the Eagles’ 9-2 start, participating in 213 special teams snaps and 22 as the fullback on offense where he had quickly developed into a physical lead blocker demanding more playing time.

On special teams, VanSumeren served as one of Michael Clay’s core coverage players and BVS is third on the Eagles when it comes to special teams snaps behind only Kelee Ringo (222) and Oren Burks (218).

At LB, VanSumeren has not played on defense this season with Dean and Baun staying healthy and Burks and rookie Jeremiah Trotter getting the mop-up duty through the first 11 games.

The next man up at linebacker and on special teams could be practice squad player Dallas Gant, an undrafted rookie from Toledo who started his college career at Ohio State.

Gant entered the NFL this spring as an undrafted rookie signed by the Minnesota Vikings. He was waived by the Vikings at the initial cutdown to 53 before being brought back to their practice squad.

Minnesota released Gant from its PS on Oct. 29 and the Eagles snapped him up on Nov. 4.

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John McMullen
JOHN MCMULLEN

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

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