The Philadelphia Eagles entered Thursday night with rumors swirling about their running back room following Jay Ajayi's season-ending ACL injury.
With Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement the top tailbacks, would Howie Roseman trade for a running back? Would he sink assets into a potential short-term rental of Le'Veon Bell? Would the Eagles general manager bring LeSean McCoy back to Philly?
Clement told reporters after Thursday's 34-13 blowout divisional win over the New York Giants that he told Roseman before the tilt that Philly didn't need to add a back.
"This game was definitely a test for us, to see do we need to get somebody," Clement said, via Les Bowen of the Philly Daily News. "I talked to Howie before the game -- you have to have confidence in our room ... We don't need to look on the outside, we know what we have on our team ... I definitely told him that. He said, 'Make me believe that we don't need a back.' "
As a duo, Clement and Smallwood combined for 94 rushing yards on 29 carries. The latter led the way with 51 yards on 18 totes. Clement, however, was the more explosive runner, bust out for a 14-yard game on his first carry, and scoring a touchdown. Returning after missing time with a quad injury, Clement appeared to be on a pitch count. Undrafted rookie Josh Adams also was active but did not earn a carry.
It wasn't the most overwhelming performance by a backfield -- that came from GiantsSaquon Barkley on this night -- but the combo showed they could supplement Carson Wentz well enough to keep the chains moving. Thanks to finally getting, and holding, a lead, the Eagles were able to look more like their 2017 selves: Running the ball enough to set up Wentz's play-action, and the quarterback making ridiculously good plays on third downs.
"It felt good out there, taking on that load. I felt like me and Corey stepped up to the plate," Smallwood said. "We were able to go in and just do our jobs, that's all we were worried about. We didn't try to do too much ... We did our job today and we came out with the win."
The question as to whether they did enough to persuade Roseman not to pursue other avenues remains to be seen. Generating 3.24 yards per carry against a Giants defense that entered the game ranked 27th versus the run isn't exactly world-beating. However, as Clement gets healthier and Darren Sproles returns, perhaps Roseman won't feel like he needs to upgrade a fungible position.
