Phil Sheridan, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Emmanuel Acho hopes injury heals

PHILADELPHIA -- Emmanuel Acho has spent Thanksgiving Day at Dallas Cowboys games before.

Then, Acho was in high school and a family friend had tickets. Acho, who grew up in Dallas, wasn’t a big Cowboys fan. He was more of a football fan in general, and liked certain players. His favorite? Terrell Davis.

Now Acho is desperately hoping his injured groin will permit him to play on Thursday when the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Acho took part in the Eagles’ Tuesday practice, but it was not particularly strenuous. There will be another practice Tuesday.

“I know me and [DeMeco Ryans] had similar injuries,” Acho said Monday. “He played the following week. He had seven days. I have four. So I think I’ll be able to. But it will be tough to tell. I’ve got a role to play, so I’ve got to do what I can to get right.”

Acho said he felt “more than a grab” in the muscle while trying to tackle Tennessee Titans running back Shonn Greene Sunday.

“I could have returned, possibly,” Acho said. “But with us having a short week, if I have a setback, I’m a goner. The inside linebacker is not the position to get hurt at right now. I’ve just got to get right.”

Acho and Casey Matthews have been playing in relief of Ryans, who is on injured reserve with a torn Achilles tendon. Ryans played through the groin injury Acho was referring to earlier in the season.

“It’s not ideal, especially being born and raised in Dallas,” Acho said. “The Thanksgiving game. Everybody’s going to be there. This wasn’t the game I was trying to get hurt for. But again, I just don’t have very much time. I’m kind of praying for a miracle.”

Head coach Chip Kelly said it was too soon to count Acho out, and it sounds as if he’ll try hard to play.

“I don’t think anybody’s 100 percent after Week 1 of the season,” Acho said. “So it’s not necessarily, can I be 100 percent? It’s can I play and be effective? If I can go out there and I can be effective and I can relieve Casey or if I can relieve Mike (Mychal Kendricks), then I’m going to make sure I’m [active] to do that. It’s a big game, to say the least.”

It’s an even bigger game for Acho. Going to the Thanksgiving Day game was the highlight of his fall semester s in high school. Then he left for college at the University of Texas and has been in the NFL since graduating.

“We’d go to the game,” Acho said. “Now I get to play in the game, God willing. I’ve got to make sure that I can play in it.”

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