Eagles Place RB Dameon Pierce On IR

In case you lost count, Pierce becomes the fourth running back to land on Philadelphia’s IR this season. In fact, he’s the fourth lost running back for the team this month. Luckily, the group of rushers heading to the injured lists has not included starter Saquon Barkley, but less luckily, Barkley still missed nearly three games with injury issues, returning just this past week after an injury took him out of the game early in Week 4.

Barkley actually kicked things off with the hamstring issue that removed him from a matchup with the Rams. As a result, the Eagles turned to Tank Bigsby, whom they traded for a year earlier. Taking over in the first quarter, Bigsby looked good in his short stint with the first-team offense, but that promptly came to an end when he suffered an injury that would require core-muscle surgery and a minimum four-week absence.

With both backs down, Philadephia turned to former Clemson fourth-round pick Will Shipley. After working with the starters to closeout their Week 4 loss, Shipley was designated the starter for Week 5, but he could barely get going before he suffered a partial tear in his plantar fascia and landed on IR himself. The Eagles had signed Pierce the week before that game, after losing Barkley and Bigsby, so with Shipley out, Pierce took over as the team’s primary rusher.

Pierce, a former Florida fourth-round pick for the Texans, opened his career as a full-time starter in Houston before gradually losing grip of the RB1 duties over the next two seasons. The roughed up Eagles gave him another opportunity, and he was making the most of it before he fell victim to injury, as well, following the return of Barkley.

To replace Pierce as Barkley’s new backup, the team has promoted Jaydon Blue from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. They also announced the practice squad signings of offensive guard Evan Beerntsen, wide receiver Quentin Skinner, and cornerback Shaun Wade.