Eagles
Darren Sproles suffers ACL tear in addition to broken arm
By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor
Following Sunday's 27-24 Eagles win against the Giants at Lincoln Financial Field, we learned that veteran running back Darren Sproles had broken his arm on a play early in the game. At first, it looked like a lower body injury but the team just released information about his wrist. The news got worse today as it seems Sproles tore his ACL and broke his arm on the same play.
Eagles RB Darren Sproles tore his ACL and broke his arm on same play, sources tell @mortreport and me. Surgery on arm today, knee later.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 25, 2017
These injuries puts Sproles' career in jeopardy as the 34-year-old back talked about plans to retire after the 2017-18 season back in December.
While the loss of Sproles will be big in the running, receiving and return games, luckily the Eagles got strong performances from their other trio of backs on Sunday. LeGarrette Blount had his best game with the Eagles, gaining 67 yards on 12 carries (5.6 ypc) and scoring a touchdown. Wendell Smallwood led all running backs with 71 yards on 12 carries (5.9 ypc). Rookie Corey Clement and quarterback Carson Wentz each had six carries for 22 yards. Clement scored his first NFL touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 21-21.
Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Doug Pederson rotates the back with Sproles out of the equation. Torrey Smith returned punts after Sproles went down. With the way Blount, Smallwood and Clement played though, expect each to get an uptick in carries when the Eagles head out west to take on the Los Angeles Chargers on October 1 at 4:05 p.m.