Corey Clement in backfield battle
Sanders out, Clement back in backfield battle
PHILADELPHIA >> When rookie Miles Sanders hobbled off the field with a suspected foot sprain Thursday morning, it evoked memories of the Eagles’ running back meltdown of last season.
By Week 10, undrafted rookie Josh Adams, who didn’t make the 53-man roster out of camp, was the starter, winding up with a teambest 511 rushing yards, the fewest by an Eagle season leader in 27 years. Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles were hurt, and Corey Clement was anything but 100 percent.
The good news is that Sanders walked away from the injury tent, where he spent a chunk of time after twisting the foot trying to spin away from contact in 11-on-11 work. On the way back to the field, he said he was OK. Sanders didn’t return to practice and was slated to undergo more testing, according to coach Doug Pederson.
“Miles is good,” Pederson said. “We’ll have a few more evaluations after practice but it seems like everything is OK.”
It’s early but Sanders has a history with the trainers. He sat out all but a few plays of the offseason activities nursing a hamstring issue.
If the injury proves to be lengthy, the Eagles have seven other running backs in camp, including Clement, coming off a knee injury.
Clement made his debut Thursday in 7-on-7’s, catching a scoring pass from rookie quarterback Clayton Thorson.
“It was a big step,” Clement said. “Realizing that I haven’t been playing for like 10 months, it was a big step to get back, get the feel of things, catching and running, picking up blitz calls, hearing the quarterback’s cadence. I can slowly take more steps getting back into team reps and hopefully by next week I’ll be back doing the whole thing.”
Clement is unconcerned with the competition, a list that includes Jordan Howard, Wendell Smallwood, Donnell Pumphrey and Boston Scott in addition to Sproles, Sanders and Adams.
Clement is as versatile as anyone in the group. That’s largely why Pederson doesn’t feel the need to rush him back.
“It was good for him just to get back into seeing live defenses, live route running,” Pederson said. “It was a good start for him today.”
The Eagles will get a more intimate look at the backs in the lower portion of their depth chart in the preseason next Thursday against the Tennessee Titans. Eagles fans with tickets to the open practice at the Linc can begin forming their opinions Sunday night.
Jason Kelce likes what he sees of the group. The running-back corps reminds the veteran center of the unit that helped spark the Birds to the Super Bowl LII championship.
“We’ve got a good stable, yeah,” Kelce said. “I think when you look at us from two years ago, we had a really balanced backfield. We had guys that were really good at what they were asked to do and that’s one of the reasons why we had so much success that year. We had guys that coaches utilized what their strengths were.
“I think that Howard is an incredible all-round back. You see the vision. You see that he knows what’s going on, he understands what’s happening and he has a knack for hitting the play where it should be hit. And we have a young guy in Sanders who can run the whole gambit of plays, come out of the backfield. Really, really dynamic athlete. And then obviously everybody knows what Sproles is. We’re very fortunate. Across the board we have pieces to be successful. Now it’s just putting it all together and coming together and figuring out how to win games.”
The offensive line has depth, as well, with rookie tackle Andre Dillard making himself noticed with some sound technique. The preseason should give the Eagles an idea of how much strength he needs to gain to compete at the position.
Running back is another story. If Sanders can’t stay on the field, there’s no shortage of players fighting for snaps.
“I do so much on the side with rehab, I miss being in the huddle and I miss being part of the scheme,” Clement said. “I’m not taking anything for granted because your time is really limited in the league. You’ve really got to make the most of your opportunity.”