It would be a huge understatement to say the Philadelphia Eagles have been bitten by the injury bug. The Birds are dealing with nagging injuries at several key positions. No position group has suffered more than the running back corps. A key ball carrier popped up on the Eagles injury report Friday when third-string running back Corey Clement was listed as questionable. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Zach Berman, Clement has been held out of practice for a precautionary reason but is expected to play Sunday. My understanding is that Corey Clement will be fine for Sunday. Precautionary more than anything else. — Zach Berman (@ZBerm) September 21, 2018 If Clement can’t go, the options at running back would be Wendell Smallwood and undrafted rookie Josh Adams, who was recently promoted from the practice squad. Last week, veteran running back Darren Sproles tweaked his hamstring in practice; he was ruled out for the Colts game earlier this week. Starting running back Jay Ajayi is out with a back injury. Carson Wentz’s return could turn into an aerial assault because the Birds may struggle to find balance on offense with a banged-up running attack.<doc-sep>It’s been a hectic Friday of NFL news and the bulk of the updates coming out have massive fantasy football impacts. Most recently, it was the Philadelphia Eagles who revealed some eye-opening news. As NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport first revealed the Eagles will be without two running backs in Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles More injury designations: The #Bills listed RB LeSean McCoy (ribs) as questionable. The #Eagles declared RBs Jay Ajayi (back) and Darren Sproles (hamstring) as out. #Dolphins WR DeVante Parker (finger) is off the injury report and ready to go. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 21, 2018 While Sproles missed last week’s game and Ajayi left the game due to his injury, it was somewhat expected the latter would be able to go in Week 3. That assumption was largely made based on the fact that he returned to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unfortunately, the situation at running back for the Eagles remains cloudy moving forward as well. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero revealed the next man up in running back Corey Clement is also listed a questionable with a quad injury. Fortunately, he expects Clement to play in the game against the Indianapolis Colts. Already dealing with injuries to Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles, who are out, the #Eagles listed RB Corey Clement as limited in practice and questionable with a quad injury. My understanding is Clement should be fine for Sunday vs. #Colts. They limited him as a precaution. — Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 21, 2018 Corey Clement’s Week 3 Fantasy Value Assuming Clement does indeed play, his only competition for work would likely be from Wendell Smallwood and potentially Josh Adams. Through two games, Clement has looked like the best back of the group (although we haven’t seen Adams), totaling 11 carries for 56 yards and one touchdown. He’s also caught five passes for 55 yards. Smallwood has rushed seven times for 28 yards and caught one pass for two yards. As far as the matchup goes, it’s appealing for Clement and the Eagles running backs. The Colts have given up a modest 115 rushing yards and one score to opposing backs, but a league-high 22 receptions for 187 receiving yards. Those facts alone make Clement worthy of being a spot-start option for many fantasy football owners, depending on the layout of your league and who else is on your roster. The 23-year-old back has flashed solid pass-catching abilities, though, and the upside is certainly there. Is Clement a Fantasy Starter Against the Colts? In 12-team leagues where you’re typically filling out a flex spot with a mid-range wide receiver, the Eagles running back is a far better option. He’s also a great fill-in if your fantasy team is dealing with injuries at the running back position. Names like Joe Mixon and Dalvin Cook are both out this week, and replacing them won’t be an easy task. When it comes to larger leagues featuring 14 or more teams, Clement can safely be put in lineups. It’s hard to envision a spot where you’re so loaded that you simply have multiple options better either at running back or in the flex than this. Finally, the 10-team and smaller leagues are where things get dicey. Most rosters are loaded with talent and there’s simply not a reason to take any type of risk. But if you play in a point-per-reception league with 10 teams, I can see multiple spots where you roll out Clement over other options. That decision will come down to the matchup, though, but you can certainly do far worse than the Eagles’ expected starter. READ NEXT: Latavius Murray Fantasy: Should You Start or Sit the Vikings RB in Week 3? READ NEXT: Baker Mayfield Fantasy: Should You Pick up the Browns Quarterback?<doc-sep>Getty Images The Eagles will have quarterback Carson Wentz back in the lineup this weekend, but they are running low on players to share the backfield with him. The team has ruled out running backs Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles. Ajayi hurt his back in last Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers and missed practice all week. Sproles sat out that game with a hamstring injury and missed all of this week’s work as well. On top of those absences, Corey Clement is dealing with a quad injury that earned him a questionable tag. Multiple reports indicated that Clement should be able to play, but the Eagles would be down to Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams if he can’t go. During a Friday press conference, head coach Doug Pederson addressed how the injuries would affect the team’s approach against Indianapolis. “It doesn’t affect play calling, it just affects personnel in the game, because like you said, we’re down some bodies,” Pederson said. “Look, we don’t make excuses for it. It’s part of the National Football League. Injuries are going to happen each and every week, and we’ve got to get the next guy ready to go. We’re blessed to have three good tight ends. We get them in the mix. We’ve got receivers that we can move around all over the field and just try to create some matchups. But best we can to keep defenses off balance, we can do that, and just get our guys ready to go.” The Eagles also listed linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and left tackle Jason Peters as questionable. Pederson said Friday that Jeffery has not been cleared for contact yet while Peters was a full participant in practice.<doc-sep>
Corey Clement was a surprising name to the Philadelphia Eagles injury report after suffering a quad injury during Friday's practice. Clement is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts, but is expected to play (per ESPN's Tim McManus). The Eagles won't have Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles for Sunday's game, as both were ruled out, so Clement playing is excellent news. Clement is expected to be the Eagles featured back on Sunday, after having played just 46 of the team's 151 offensive snaps (30.46 percent) through two games, which is a surprising number for a dynamic back. Clement has 11 carries for 56 yards (5.1 yards per carry) through two games and has five catches for 55 yards. Clement is also expected to return kicks and punts in Sproles' absence, but that may change based on how is quad is feeling. Shelton Gibson is listed as the first-team kick returner on the depth chart while Nelson Agholor is listed as the third-team punt returner (Clement is on the second team at both positions) "You've got to be careful. You've got to be smart there," said Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. "You can't tax him one way or the other because he's a versatile and he's a very valuable piece of what we're trying to do on special teams and on offense. There's a balance there, and we've got to make sure that we have the right combination of plays for him." The Eagles are 1-1, but Carson Wentz is back for Week 3 against the Colts! Get set for the most exciting season in Eagles history! Make sure to stay in the loop for all Eagles news throughout this journey -- take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Eagles newsletter now! With Ajayi and Sproles out, expect to see a lot of Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams in the running back-by-committee. The Eagles called up Adams from the practice squad this week, anticipating one or both of Ajayi and Sproles would be out. "We'll be smart with him having a chance to possibly play in this game and see where he is at the end of the week," Pederson said. "Duce (Staley) does a great job of sort of managing those running backs and the amount of runs and who gets what run. We have all the confidence in Josh, and when he gets an opportunity he's going to do well." An undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame, Adams averaged 5.2 yards per carry after contact, the highest figure in his draft class by almost a full yard (per Pro Football Focus). He broke 44 tackles on the ground and another one as a receiver to give him an elusive rating of 116.5, the second-best figure in the draft class. yet, he went undrafted because of his foot injury. Adams has runs of at least 74 yards in every season of his college career, and when he gets into open space he can be tough to catch with excellent long speed. He had 206 carries for 1,431 yards (1,019 after contact) last season for the Fighting Irish, averaging 7.0 yards per carry. Smallwood has seven carries for 28 yards and one catch for four yards through two games.