Monday marked the fifth straight day that Ryan Mathews missed practice due to an ankle injury. The 28-year-old running back has battled injury problems for his entire career, but now that he's listed as the top running back on the Eagles depth chart, any health concerns are a huge problem for the Eagles.
Mathews is expected to return to practice later this week, averting a major scare early in training camp, but the Eagles depth at running back is proving to be a glaring problem early on in camp.
After Mathews, the Eagles have Darren Sproles, rookie Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner, who has all of 18 games on his resume.
Sproles is a jack-of-all-trades type of player, but better used when lined up as a receiver than as a running back. Sproles does have nine rushing touchdowns in two seasons with the Eagles, but many of his most successful plays as a back came on short third-down yardage situations and in the red zone.
Smallwood is a mystery of sorts. The Eagles didn't address the running back position early in the Draft, waiting until Day 3 and the fifth round to select Smallwood out of West Virginia. While Smallwood had a very solid junior season before entering the Draft — 1,519 rushing yards and nine touchdowns — there will still be a lot of adjustment and growth from the rookie.
The same goes for Barner, who, despite being one of Chip Kelly's Oregon guys, was seldom used in his first season with the Eagles. Overall, he had just 28 carries in 10 games, rushing for 124 yards, a 4.4 yard average. Of the 28 carries, the one that stood out was a lost fumble in the waning moments of the Eagles win in New England that gave the Patriots a chance to tie a game that looked out of reach.
The Eagles have a good mix of youth and experience with the 33-year-old Sproles and two young backs. By most standards, Mathews is still fairly young as well at 28, but the injury history has been a liability. The Eagles also have rookies Cedric O'Neal and Byron Marshall on the roster at the moment.
That combination has head coach Doug Pederson hopeful in the future depth his team could attain.
"We've got some young talent," Pederson said. "Kenjon Barner is a kid that has shown some good strides this offseason picking up the offense, and you've got Ryan out there. You've got Darren Sproles. And then you've got the young kids: Wendell we picked up and Byron Marshall and Cedric O’Neal and the rest of the guys that have some talent. I love playing with two tight ends. I like playing with double halfbacks. It’s a chance to get all these guys some reps down the stretch now during this tough time."
Even with six backs on the roster, the Eagles offensive success rests mainly on the top two on the depth chart, Mathews and Sproles. Sproles has proven to be a great compliment back for those third-down situations and red zone spots, but not a leading guy out of the backfield. Mathews has shown signs of being that player, but struggles to stay on the field.
Together, it forces the Eagles to rely on rookies to be leaders in the running game. The lack of experience could easily catch up with the Eagles if injuries start to creep into the picture as the season goes on.
The Eagles are hoping for growth from Barner and hope they have a solid pickup in Smallwood, but for now, this is a show for Mathews and Sproles to run, if they can stay on the field.
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Kevin Durso is an editor for Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
