Eagles conerback Avonte Maddox is progressing well after suffering a horrific neck injury in Week 4 against the Packers.
Maddox returned to practice Wednesday as a full participant for the first time since a hard hit left him with a neck sprain and a concussion. He said it was "a good feeling" to be back on the field before going into detail about an injury that he defined as "definitely scary."
The cornerback explained he lost feeling in his body for about 20 seconds, but was relieved when it started to come back.
"Once I got the feeling back and realized I wasn’t paralyzed, I was like, all right. I’m good," he said (per The Philadelphia Inquirer).
The injury happened when Maddox attempted to tackle Green Bay tight end Robert Tonyan with just more than a minute left in the game. Eagles safety Andrew Sendejo came in to assist and his helmet smashed into the side of Maddox's helmet. Maddox went down and was motionless on the field before he was taken off the field on a stretcher.
“When I was on that stretcher and heading out, the only thing on my mind was, ‘Oh, I gotta get back in the game. I want to play in the game,'" Maddox added. "And they said, ‘No, you gotta go to the hospital.'"
Maddox, who has been considered week-to-week, said he doesn't have any hard feelings against Sendejo for the scary hit.
“I watched (the play) a couple of times. It looked a little brutal. It was a good hit," Maddox said. "But you can’t fault him. He’s out there playing just like I’m playing. I was never mad at him. I’d never be mad at him. He was trying to make a play, just like I was. It’s a shame it had to happen that way. But I’m still walking, and he’s still giving me my hugs.”
Sendejo said: "There’s plays that happen like that. You just hope that they don’t end up with the result like that. But, sometimes you can’t really do anything about a bang-bang play.”
Maddox, 23, was having a strong season before the injury as he had 16 tackles through four games. He had a total of 35 tackles in 13 games last year during his rookie season.
The Eagles (4-4) will host the Bears (3-4) Sunday with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET in Week 9.