The Eagles placed running back Dameon Pierce on injured reserve Wednesday and signed running back Jaydon Blue to the active roster, the team announced, per Pro Football Talk. NFL Trade Rumors reported four moves in all. Besides Pierce and Blue, the Eagles added guard Evan Beerntsen, wide receiver Quentin Skinner and defensive back Shaun Wade to the practice squad. Bleeding Green Nation counted five moves, and the sources don't say what the fifth was.
Bleeding Green Nation reported that Pierce was hurt in the fourth quarter of Monday night's 38-21 loss to Dallas. Neither the feeds nor the other reporting we have specify the injury or how long he will be out. A player placed on IR must miss a minimum number of games, but no outlet gave a timeline for Pierce.
Pierce was busy before he got hurt. Our box score shows him with 14 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown, a 3.4 average, plus one catch for 1 yard and two kick returns for 37 yards. Barkley had 7 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown. Bleeding Green Nation noted that Pierce led all Eagles running backs in touches that night, and the context there is Saquon Barkley's own injury. The r/nfl post, a fan summary and not team reporting, says Barkley has a hamstring and back injury from Monday. Elijah Mitchell added 3 carries for 11 yards and 3 catches for 23 yards.
The backfield was already short. The same r/nfl post lists Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley on IR for four weeks each, and Carson Steele there for three weeks. It projects Elijah Mitchell and Blue as the likely Sunday starters. Yahoo Sports called Pierce "yet ANOTHER Eagles running back" headed to IR. The Reddit poster's tally and projection are unconfirmed, and Barkley's status is not something the team has addressed in anything we have.
The Eagles are 2-5 and third in the NFC East, having lost five straight. Their last three losses came by 17 points to Dallas, 11 to Carolina (25-14) and two at Jacksonville (19-17). Against Dallas they ran 25 times for 121 yards, 4.8 a carry, while giving up 204 rushing yards on 38 carries. Pierce, 26, has played all three of those recent games for Philadelphia, rushing 11 times for 14 yards at Jacksonville and 12 times for 35 yards against Carolina.
Philadelphia's next game is at Washington on Sunday, Nov. 1. Barkley's availability and who carries the ball behind him are the open questions going into that game.
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