By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor
Corey Clement had 133 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl LII as an undrafted free agent. Not to mention his part in the Philly Special.
He went from being passed up by every NFL franchise to a key contributor in the biggest game the sport has to offer.
Nearly everyone thought that he had a bright career ahead of him.
That may still be true, but one and a half seasons later, the outlook is not the same by any means.
On Friday, the Eagles placed Clement on injured reserve and promoted Boston Scott off the practice squad.
Roster Move: #Eagles have promoted RB Boston Scott from the practice squad to the active roster and placed RB Corey Clement on Injured Reserve. pic.twitter.com/BuaAgZ4dmk
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 11, 2019
Clement was always expected to be a contributor in the backfield rather than a bell-cow or starter, but he was limited to just 11 games in 2018 and was held out of the playoffs all due to injury.
Looking to reclaim his spot, the running back appeared to be one of the top backs on the roster until the team traded for Jordan Howard, drafted Miles Sanders and re-signed Darren Sproles.
The result was Clement being relegated to special teams and that, unfortunately, did not go well. On a key kick return to start the second half in Atlanta, Clement suffered an arm injury and fumbled the ball. His replacement, the aforementioned Miles Sanders, did such a good job that he took over even after Clement was healthy.
Clement then got another shot when Darren Sproles exited the Jets game with an injury as the team sent him back to be a punt returner. Unfortunately for him, the newly-promoted Ryan Lewis did not get out of the way of the return despite his calls to do so. Clement, thinking the ball bounced off of Lewis’ foot, muffed the punt and turned the ball over, giving the Jets the position to score their only points of the game.
Scott figures to take over the punt return duties for the team in Sproles’ absence. He could also take on the kick return duties, if the Eagles are comfortable enough with him, in an attempt to protect the rookie Sanders a bit more.
The move leave Clement ineligible to practice and cannot return to the team until December 9 against the Giants. The Eagles will have three divisional games to end the season following that match-up.
The Eagles now have an open spot on the practice squad. With Alex Ellis clearing waivers and reverting to IR, the team has no obvious signing to fill the spot, though Donnel Pumphrey is still a free agent.