With Ajayi done, all hands on deck in Birds backfield
PHILADELPHIA >> For now the plan is for the Eagles to attack the Giants Thursday night with a running backby-committee approach.
The rotation consists of Wendell Smallwood, who leads the Eagles with two touchdowns; Corey Clement, who hasn’t played in the last two games; and rookie Josh Adams, the Central Bucks South product who has two carries for minus-one yard the last two games.
That’s where the Eagles are after Jay Ajayi was placed on injured reserve with yet another knee injury. Ajayi led the Eagles in rushing and touchdowns, the latter with three, before his season came to a close in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings.
“I think it gives everybody an opportunity to step up,” Adams said. “Any time one of your teammates goes down, you have to be there for them to pick the pace up and play for him and play for the guys that aren’t there and kind of help bring the team up. I think we all have a great opportunity ahead of us. And we’re not going to take anything for granted.”
The depth chart could change in a hurry for the Eagles, who redid the massive contract of defensive tackle Fletcher Cox to create salary cap room. Among the players that the Eagles reportedly have spoken to are Le’Veon Bell, who hasn’t signed the franchise tender of the Steelers, and former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy.
Cox gave no clue what the Eagles would do with the salary cap savings.
“I don’t work upstairs,” Cox said. “I really don’t know what’s going on so it’s good for me and I’m just moving on from it. The only thing I can do is continue to be a great teammate and be a leader on this team.”
Darren Sproles, the 35-year-old veteran, is at least two weeks away from returning due to a hamstring issue. He hasn’t played since the opener.
Eagles offensive coordinator Mike Groh has his fingers crossed that Clement, who has been a fullgo in practice, will regain his form.
“He’s a versatile player,” Groh said. “He’s good. Really runs well between the tackles. He can be that physical style running back that we’re talking about that Jay is, plus he’s an outstanding receiver out of the backfield. He gives us a lot of versatility back there.”
The Eagles have gone 17 games without a 100-yard rusher since LeGarrette Blount romped for 136 yards in a 26-24 win over the Chargers in Week 4 last season. It’s the longest active streak in the league.
••• Defensive end Derek Barnett (shoulder), cornerback Sydney Jones (ankle) and offensive tackle Jason Peters (quad) practiced fully Tuesday in addition to Clement.
Quarterback Carson Wentz (rest) and offensive tackle Lane Johnson (ankle) were limited, according to the injury report.
Held out of practice were linebackers Nathan Gerry (ankle, knee) and D.J. Alexander (quad), Sproles (hamstring), safety Corey Graham (hamstring) and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (calf).
••• With 462 receiving yards, Odell Beckham Jr. of the Giants ranks fourth in the league.
Beckham is coming off a game for the ages, collecting eight catches for 131 yards and a TD and throwing a 57-yard scoring pass to rookie running back Saquon Barkley.
Beckham became the second NFL player with
100 or more receiving yards, a TD catch and a TD pass of 50 or more yards in the same game.
Beckham has two or more TD receptions two of his last three games against the Eagles.
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NOTES >> Referee Ron Torbert and his crew will officiate Eagles-Giants Thursday (8:20 p.m., FOX, NFLN) at MetLife Stadium … The Eagles are threepoint favorites … Eli Manning is third in the league with a 71.7 completion percentage. Manning has thrown six TD passes and three interceptions.