The Eagles have ruled RB Kenneth Gainwell out for Thursday night's game against the Vikings with the rib injury that has kept him out of practice each day. The short turnaround from Sunday's opener certainly doesn't help the guy who dominated backfield work for Philly against the Patriots. D'Andre Swift and Boston Scott each figure to get more snaps in his absence. We're also betting Rashaad Penny gets activated for this game. (He was a healthy scratch in Week 1.) We'll all obviously be guessing on touch distribution with the Week 1 leader out. Swift seems like the top bet, but be careful not to overcommit to any Philly RB.
Eagles RB Kenneth Gainwell (ribs) did not practice on Tuesday. "Gainwell remains a wait and see issue" for Thursday night's game vs. the Vikings, insider Derrick Gunn tweeted. Gainwell's absence would leave Philly's backfield to D'Andre Swift, Boston Scott, and likely Rashaad Penny, who was a healthy scratch for the opener. Check back tomorrow for another update on Gainwell. This doesn't sound like a long-term injury, so he remains a strong target on waiver wires.
The Eagles didn't practice Monday, but they had to project a practice report because of their Thursday night game against the Vikings in Week 2. That report listed RB Kenneth Gainwell not participating because of a rib injury. Gainwell stayed involved to the end of Sunday's win against the Patriots, so there's no indication this is serious. But we'll obviously keep tracking it through the short week. If Gainwell were to go inactive, we'd bet on Rashaad Penny taking the game-day roster spot. In that case, we'd all have to guess at the work distribution, which Gainwell dominated in Week 1. D'Andre Swift and Boston Scott were active but minimally involved at New England. The short turnaround could mean a wider spread of Week 2 opportunities even if Gainwell is good to go.
Eagles RB Kenneth Gainwell controlled the backfield in Sunday's win over the Patriots. He took 14 of the team's 16 RB carries, gaining 54 yards. Gainwell also ranked third on the team with 4 targets, catching all of them for 20 yards. D'Andre Swift contributed just 3 yards on 1 carry and caught 1 of 2 targets for 0 yards. Boston Scott carried once for 3 yards and caught his lone target for 7 yards. Rashaad Penny was a healthy scratch. We wouldn't expect the workload distribution to remain quite so divided. But Gainwell obviously heads toward Week 2 as the only usable Eagles RB. His mere 4.1 yards per touch in the opener isn't especially worrisome against a Patriots defense that we expect to rank among the league's best.
Eagles RB Rashaad Penny is a healthy scratch for today's game vs. the Patriots. It'll be D'Andre Swift, Kenneth Gainwell, and Boston Scott in the backfield for Philly today. We'd still keep Penny stashed in fantasy leagues of 12+ teams.
The Philadelphia Enquirer reports that Eagles RB Rashaad Penny is expected to be a healthy scratch for today's opener vs. the Patriots. That'd leave the backfield to RBs D'Andre Swift, Kenneth Gainwell, and Boston Scott.
The Eagles released RB Trey Sermon. Philly will carry RBs D'Andre Swift, Kenneth Gainwell, Rashaad Penny, and Boston Scott into Week 1. We're expecting that to be the order in terms of snaps to start. But this figures to be an ever-evolving backfield throughout the season.
Eagles RB D'Andre Swift "is still one of many in the running back room, not the main guy," The Athletic's Bo Wulf writes. It's confirmation of how we've been projecting the Philly backfield all along. Swift is the best fantasy bet of the bunch, but he figures to lose too much work to RB Kenneth Gainwell and others to be a real fantasy difference-maker. Check out our full projections for the Eagles backfield.
Eagles HC Nick Sirianni said not to read too much into the backfield usage in Saturday's preseason opener vs. the Ravens. RB Kenneth Gainwell was held out of that one, while RBs D'Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny played. That could be interpreted as Gainwell being atop the depth chart. But Sirianni said that's not necessarily the case. "We wanted to see Rashaad go. Rashaad hasn't played in a little bit," Sirianni said. "My plan with the backs ... I always like those guys getting tackled, so the first time they get tackled isn't in game one [of the regular season.] So, next game, [Boston Scott] or [Kenny Gainwell] will get a couple carries, like Swift did today. And the next game the other one will get a couple carries." So don't expect to learn too much about the Eagles' backfield plans the rest of this preseason. We know that it'll be a committee attack -- but exactly how touches will be divvied remains uncertain.
"Signs are pointing to a running back by committee in Philadelphia," ESPN's Tim McManus writes. Five Eagles RBs -- D'Andre Swift, Rashaad Penny, Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott, and Trey Sermon -- have received first-team reps in camp. McManus expects Swift, Penny, and Gainwell to all be in the mix for regular-season touches, "with matchups and in-game performance likely to sway how much each player is utilized in a given week." That sounds like a fantasy nightmare. On the plus side, we know this will be a productive offense and running game. And an injury to any one of those top three would make the other two much better fantasy plays. This is still a backfield to invest in at the right price. Penny remains our favorite value on the bunch, with an ADP in late Round 9.
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