Eagles' Sills grateful to return to practice after rape acquittal
Eagles' Sills grateful to return to practice after rape acquittal originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
A few days ago, Josh Sills couldn’t think about football.
He was worried about clearing his name and avoiding prison.
On Friday afternoon, Sills was found not guilty on charges of rape and kidnapping, stemming from an alleged incident in 2019, involving a former high school classmate. Sills faced serious time on each of the two felonies if found guilty.
But Sills was acquitted by an Ohio jury on Friday. And after Tuesday’s practice, his second since his return, Sills was ready to speak at length publicly in Philadelphia for the first time since he was indicted in February.
“The process that I went through has not been easy,” Sills said. “It has been very daunting for myself, but more importantly, for my family. I’m glad that throughout the process I was able to clear my name. I’m glad that my family is able to move on from this, that I am able to move on from this and I’m able to look forward to the future.”
Sills, 25, was an undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State last spring and performed well enough to make the Eagles’ roster out of training camp in 2022. While he played in just one game as a rookie, logging just four snaps against the Cardinals, the Eagles kept him on their roster all season until the indictment on Feb. 1, less than two weeks before Super Bowl LVII. That’s when Sills was placed on the Commissioner Exempt List by the NFL.
The four-day case last week was heard at Guernsey County Court in Ohio and a verdict was reached by a jury in less than three hours. According to CourtTV.com, Sills faced 11 to 16 years in prison on each of the two felony charges.
“It was a process,” Sills said. “But I’m glad that I was able to clear my name in that process, get through that process. I had a lot of great support behind me. But I’m looking forward to putting that in the past and looking forward to tomorrow and moving on.”
Sills had been in contact with some of his teammates over the last sixth months and is grateful he was welcomed back to the NovaCare Complex this weekend.
Sills is happy to be back in Philadelphia but throughout this process, he didn’t know if he’d have a roster spot waiting for him when his trial concluded.
“I did not,” Sills said. “That’s something that I took day-by-day and more importantly, I had to focus on clearing my name and going through the process that I went through. And I’m glad that throughout that process, I was able to clear my name. And like I said, I’m just thankful I’m back here.”
Sills (6-6, 325) was already practicing with the second team at left guard on Tuesday but admitted he’s a bit behind. He’s not in football shape yet.
While awaiting trial, Sills was back in Ohio at his family’s farm, where he went on runs and was able to stay active just by living life on the farm.
“Maybe not necessarily lifting weights,” Sills said, “but square (hay) bales and that kind of things will keep you in shape.”
The NFL removed Sills from the Commissioner Exempt List on Friday afternoon after Sills was acquitted. The Eagles weren’t required to bring Sills back but they made sure they had a roster spot open for him.
Head coach Nick Sirianni explained why:
“We followed all the protocols there as far as just wanted to let the legal process play itself out,” Sirianni said before Sunday’s practice. “I think just at the end of the day, we let the legal process and the league's decision to take him off the exempt list make our decision, right?
“My experience with Josh has been nothing but positive. He's been a great teammate and done his job and guys love him on this team. So my experience with him has been great. We're happy to have him back.”
While Sills has played mostly guard in his first two practices back, he said the team isn’t telling him he’ll be focusing on just one position. Sills is officially listed as a guard, but as a lineman fighting for a roster spot as a backup, Sills will need to be versatile. He also played some tackle last training camp.
Sills is a part of a crowded position room in training camp. The Eagles have 17 offensive linemen on their 90-man roster and they kept just 10 on their initial 53-man roster in 2022. So it’s far from a guarantee Sills will make the team, but he’s just happy to have the chance to put the pads on again.
“It felt great,” he said. “I was really looking forward to it. Like I said, I’m just grateful to be out here, around my teammates and my coaches in this wonderful organization.”
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