Eagles at Dolphins - Health of Nnamdi Asomugha Could Be a Factor

The Philadelphia Eagles have had more than their share of injuries this season. As the team prepares to face the Miami Dolphins later today, the health of Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha is one of the areas of concern for the Eagles.

Asomugha was first injured on Thanksgiving, when he had to be carted off the field with an apparent knee injury during practice. Despite the reports that it was a non-contact injury - which typically signifies torn ligaments in the knee - Asomugha returned to the field and has played in all 12 of the Eagles' games.

Last week, the Eagles faced the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football. During the game, Asomugha suffered a concussion during the second quarter of the game. However, Asomugha was cleared for football activities on Monday, not even missing a single practice.

But now, the question is, how healthy can Asomugha really be? I turned to Bleeding Green Nation's managing editor JasonB for more on Asomugha.

"So first of all, no he has absolutely not been healthy the past two weeks since he picked up the knee injury," JasonB explained. "Against the Pats, they have him playing as a nickel or dime corner because he simply couldn't run eery play. While he did start last week against Seattle, I thought he still looked off the pace. So I'm sure he's improving, he's now about three weeks removed from the knee injury, but he's not 100%."

But, even before his injuries, Asomugha was not playing to the level expected of one of the NFL's top cornerbacks. During his eight years with the Oakland Raiders, Asomugha could shut down an entire side of the field for an opponent's passing attack. But in Philadelphia, his play has not been to the same lever. I asked JasonB about that as well.

"As for how he's played this year, there were some real struggles early on as he tried to pick up the Eagles zone scheme," according to JasonB. "This is a guy who played man coverage his whole career and for some reason the Eagles tried to shoehorn him into a zone scheme in two weeks. But overall, I saw a stat the other day that the Eagles were giving up the least amount of production to opposing wideouts and #1 WRs. So obviously he's been a part of that."

The match up between Asomugha and Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall will be a fascinating battle today. Marshall will, hopefully, be able to exploit the knee injury of Asomugha, and continually find himself open. Otherwise, it could be a very frustrating day for the Dolphins' top wide out.