Sproles Suffers Setback

By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor

Just one day after head coach Doug Pederson said that Darren Sproles was expected to play his first game in nine weeks, Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that the veteran re-aggravated his hamstring and will be sidelined again.

After Philadelphia HC Doug Pederson said he expected Darren Sproles to play Sunday vs the Cowboys, the Eagles’ veteran RB went to practice and aggravated his hamstring injury, and now is expected to be sidelined, per sources. Sproles was highly disappointed, as were the Eagles.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 8, 2018

The news comes as a huge disappointment to the organization and fans. It is made worse that the Eagles waived their return man DeAndre Carter on Tuesday and he was claimed less than 24 hours ago by the Houston Texans, so they cannot keep Carter returning.

The Eagles will need an internal option to return punts and kicks. Nelson Agholor, Corey Clement, Wendell Smallwood and the newly acquired Golden Tate all have experience returning. The below chart shows each players average yards per return.

Career Return Averages

The Eagles seem to be interested in using Tate all they can, so it would not be surprising to see him return punts against the Cowboys. He last returned punts in week seven of this season for the Lions, although he did muff one of his two returns in that game.

Smallwood would seem to be the front runner for kick return duties and has a return for a touchdown on his record from his rookie season.

No official timetable has been given for Sproles to return to action.