5 Eagles Most Likely to Be Inactive vs Vikings on Thursday Night Football

2. Kenneth Gainwell

This is quite a rollercoaster for Kenneth Gainwell.

He shocked just about everyone by being an absolute workhorse as Philly’s RB1 in the season-opener, out-touching D’Andre Swift 20-2.

And just as quickly as he became a workhorse, it’s looking like he won’t even be active.

Gainwell is nursing a rib injury that he appears to have suffered against the Patriots, and indications are that he won’t be able to play in a short week.

I’d guess this isn’t something too serious, but it’s a situation where it’s really easy to decide to take a cautious approach.

Playing on Thursday Night Football tends to mean being less willing to play guys who are injured, and the Eagles’ huge amount of RB depth means his absence is a pretty easy one to absorb.

Swift will slot easily into the RB1 role, and even if the Eagles don’t want him quite as involved as Gainwell does, Rashaad Penny should be active to help with that heavy lifting.

I still don’t expect Boston Scott to get much offensive work with Gainwell sidelined, but he could even pick up some of the slack, too.

You never like to see a starter getting hurt this early, but this is a pretty easy injury for Philadelphia to cover.