Recently Signed Eagles Will Be Key to Navigating Devastating RB Injury Situation in Week 8

With three running backs on IR, another with a bad back, and one released, the Eagles could be down to a pair of RBs who haven't been with the team very long.

Eagles RBs coach Jemal Singleton will have to lean on a couple of relatively new faces to survive the upcoming devastation that the backfield is facing. | USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA, P.A. — This Eagles season can be defined by three words: Next. Man. Up.

In the running back room, those three words can be reduced to two: Apocalypse. Now.

If the situation wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable. Maybe it is, because if you’re not laughing, you might feel like crying. Not that the Eagles are doing either of those things, but when the team has three running backs on injured reserve (Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley, and Damen Pierce), another with a bad back (Saquon Barkley) and one who was waived injured (Carson Steele), well, it’s an apocalypse.

“It’s my first time really experiencing it,” center Drew Kendall said. “But I’m only in my second year.”

You could play in the NFL for a decade and not experience what the Eagles have gone through. They are down their top two receivers, DeVonta Smith and Tay Wicks; offensive linemen have been shuffled in and out to cover for Lane Johnson’s in-season retirement, the trade of Cam Jurgens, and injuries.

Eagles need Elijah Mitchell, Jaydon Blue to step up vs. Commanders

But it’s the running back position that’s been ground to a pulp. Their two backs in Sunday night’s visit to the Commanders will be Elijah Mitchell and Jaydon Blue, whom the Eagles already believe in.

“We're constantly coaching every member on the roster,” offensive coordinator Sean Mannion said. “So, when we get Elijah here, and I think it was midway through the offseason program, it's not, 'Hey, we're going to wait and get you up to speed until it's your time to be up on game day.'

“We're constantly priding ourselves on developing every member of our roster. [Running backs/assistant head coach] Jemal [Singleton] does an outstanding job with that room. I know we've had some new faces. Blue, we picked up later on. Elijah, he was here in the offseason, then away, and then back. But it's a credit to all of our position coaches, Jemal specifically with the running backs, that with some roster turnover, with guys needing to step up, they're all mentally capable of stepping in there and executing.”

Veteran rusher Elijah Mitchell is on track to be the Eagles' RB1 in Week 8. Is he ready to handle those responsibilities? | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Mitchell is no stranger to injury. Even as a rookie sixth-round pick of the 49ers in 2021, when he ran for 963 yards and five touchdowns in 11 games, he battled a broken finger, fractured ribs, a concussion, and a knee injury. In the following years, he dealt with MCL, groin, and hamstring strains.

He started training camp with the Eagles but was waived due to injury on Aug. 11. He was brought back to the practice squad on Oct. 20 and is now the likely starter against the Commanders.

Pressed into action last Monday night, when Pierce got hurt in the Eagles' loss to the Cowboys, Mitchell ran for 11 yards and caught three passes for 23 yards on 14 snaps.

A long-awaited chance to shine

Since the Cowboys released Blue this past summer after taking him in the fifth round of the 2025 draft, he's been on and off the Eagles’ practice squad and 53-man roster a couple of times already.

The Eagles hosted him for a top-30 visit when he entered the draft out of the University of Texas. He is expected to have an opportunity to run the ball and maybe return kicks on Sunday night due to the "Apocalypse Now" situation.

“Yeah, man, it’s part of the game—injuries happen,” Blue said. “I’m just trying to do everything I can to pick up the slack and make sure there is no drop-off.”

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