Saquon Barkley left early with a stinger, came back after halftime, and the Eagles had to adjust on the fly around him in Sunday’s Week 2 matchup with the Titans.
Barkley went to the locker room after his first run of the day, then returned to the sideline before the end of the first half and re-entered the game in the second half. He was wearing a neck roll over his shoulder pads when he came back. Dallas Goedert also headed to the sideline with a knee injury and was listed as questionable to return after taking a hard hit to his right leg.
While Barkley was out, Tank Bigsby stepped in as the primary back. He handled the top spot in the backfield after Barkley’s exit, and Will Shipley also saw work there, especially in passing situations.
Bigsby had 10 carries and two catches across Philadelphia’s first three drives, while Shipley logged seven carries in that same stretch. The Eagles moved the ball before Jalen Hurts threw an interception, Tennessee answered with a touchdown a few plays later, and Bigsby then scored on the next possession.
Hurts was sharp before Barkley returned, completing 14 of 17 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown across the Eagles’ first three drives. DeVonta Smith was already up to five catches for 66 yards and a score on the first three possessions, and Dontayvion Wicks had four grabs for 54 yards.
Barkley’s injury came with Philadelphia’s offensive line already in flux. Left guard Landon Dickerson went on IR this week, so the Eagles shifted Cam Jurgens from center to left guard and plugged Drew Kendall in at center. Barkley was hurt while running behind that new combination.
The Eagles leaned on Barkley heavily in Week 1, when he ran 15 times for 83 yards in the win over the Commanders, with 42 of those yards coming on one carry. He is coming off a season in which he piled up 1,413 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns, a drop from 2024, when he led the NFL with 2,283 yards from scrimmage on an NFL-high 378 touches.
Bigsby, meanwhile, is the next man up. The 26-year-old entered the league as a third-round pick of the Jaguars in 2023 and had a rough rookie season, averaging 2.6 yards per carry in limited work.
He broke through in his second year with Jacksonville, rushing for 766 yards and seven touchdowns while sharing the load with Travis Etienne Jr. Even after looking like he was turning a corner, he was traded just one game into last season.
As Barkley’s backup last year, Bigsby averaged 5.9 yards per carry. He had one carry for three yards in Week 1.
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