Coming off a dominant win over the Las Vegas Raiders last week, the Philadelphia Eagles are already back at the practice facility this week, as they’re getting ready to play the Washington Commanders on Saturday night.
This is a quick turnaround for the Eagles, who will be looking to win the NFC East title for the second consecutive year. Philadelphia hopes to have a fully healthy squad for Saturday. However, there was a bit of uncertainty around the health of star running back Saquon Barkley.
Barkley appeared on the injury report on Tuesday with a DNP due to a stinger. He got banged up in last week’s win against the Raiders. With that in mind, the Eagles could give Tank Bigsby more snaps and carries in Week 16.
Eagles fans have been clamoring for Bigsby to get more carries, as he seemingly gets positive yards every time he touches the ball. That could still happen on Saturday night, but it will likely be after Barkley gets his carries. That could still happen on Saturday night, but he’ll likely be coming in for Barkley as According to Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Barkley was at practice on Wednesday.
Saquon Barkley Returns to Practice Ahead of Week 16 Contest vs. Commanders
If you’re an Eagles fan, you are relieved that Barkley was back at practice, as it more than likely means he’ll be playing on Saturday.
In last week’s win over the Raiders, Barkley had 78 yards on the ground and a touchdown on 22 carries, along with two receptions (three targets) for 14 yards. It was only the fifth time this year that Barkley had 20 or more carries in a game.
In those five games, the Eagles are 4-1, with the only loss coming in Week 15 vs. the Chargers. We should expect Philadelphia to run the rock against a Commanders’ defense that is giving up 136.3 rushing yards per game (28th in the NFL), but only 118.8 at home this season.
Barkley will get the lion's share of the carries, but the Eagles must make sure not to forget about Bigsby, who has quietly made plays when given the chance. Against the Raiders, Bigsby had a season-high 57 yards on 17 carries, but the game was also well in hand.
Before last week, the most carries he had this season were in Week 8 against the Giants, where he had 104 yards on nine carries. Bigsby brings explosiveness to the running game and doesn’t do much dancing around behind the line of scrimmage.
If the Eagles can get out to an early lead on Washington as they did vs. Las Vegas, maybe we will see Bigsby get more involved. But even if that doesn’t happen, it doesn’t hurt to bring him in as a change-of-pace option.