Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Injury to sideline Mathews for season
PHILADELPHIA >> Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said Ryan Mathews suffered a herniated disc in his neck on the carry before he was stopped on fourth and goal Thursday night against the Giants.
Pederson called the injury “a pretty major deal” that could require surgery.
“It’s his C6 and C7 so it looks like that he could miss obviously some significant time with this,” Pederson said. “It’s a pretty significant injury so he’s probably going to miss the rest of next week and the rest of the year.”
The Eagles (6-9) have a home game remaining against the Cowboys. Mathews rushed for 46 yards and caught a 16-yard pass in the 24-19 win over the Giants.
Peyton Manning’s career almost ended after he had surgery for a herniated disc in his C6 and C7 vertebrae. In his case there were complications, the recovery was long and he didn’t have the arm strength as before.
Replays showed Mathews submarine into the heart of the Giants’ goal line defense while finishing with a twist that left him on his back. The two-yard gain put the ball at the one-yard line late in the third quarter.
The immovable body at the goal line was Giants defensive tackle Damon Harrison, who was hurt on the tackle and exited.
Pederson went for the touchdown on fourth down rather than kick a short field goal that would have staked the Birds to a 24-16 lead.
However Mathews was slowed before he was able to leap over the pile and lost one yard.
“Looking at it on film and the timing of it was the third down goal line play before the fourth down,” Pederson said. “He stayed in on the fourth down play and was stopped, obviously. But it appears that it was that third-down run.”
Mathews will finish as the Eagles’ leading rusher this season unless Darren Sproles rushes for 256 or more yards in the finale.
Mathews has rushed for 661 yards and eight touchdowns on 155 carries, an average of 4.3 yards per lug.
Mathews also has 13 receptions for 115 yards and one touchdown.
While Pederson doubts it’s a career-ending injury, he senses surgery will be necessary, followed by a lengthy rehab.
Mathews, 29, has missed six games in his two seasons with the Eagles.
“I think that Ryan obviously got off to a good start and then there was a little bit of a lull in the middle and he’s finished up strong,” Pederson said. “That’s kind of been the nature of the season for him. These last couple of weeks he’s kind of been our workhorse at the running back position and did some really good things for us. This obviously is unfortunate now that he can’t finish the season for us.”
Mathews has one year left on a three-year pact. In 2017 he’s slated to earn $4 million in base pay, not an exorbitant salary for an established back. Factor in his history of injuries, including the latest and the only surprise would seem to be if he does return.
“Listen, I’m not going to speculate on any of that kind of stuff right now,” Pederson said. “We’ll save all those for the offseason and wait until that time to make any decisions.”
The Eagles have lost running backs Wendell Smallwood (knee), Kenjon Barner (hamstring) and Mathews in consecutive weeks.
That leaves Sproles, who has rushed for 406 yards and two touchdowns, and rookie Byron Marshall, who has nine carries for 22 yards, as the healthy running backs. Pederson hasn’t ruled out promoting Terrell Watson (6-1, 240) from the practice squad.
“We’ll take a look at it,” Pederson said. “We’ve got time, obviously, with the weekend. Players won’t be back until Tuesday. We’ve got time to evaluate it and see if there is anybody else available. If not, then by no means (will we) hesitate to bring Watson up and have him as an emergency third running back for next week.”