Apparently, Ryan Mathews really was hurt.
Last Monday afternoon, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly surprised everyone when he said Mathews hurt his groin in the first half in the loss to Carolina (see story).
It was surprising because no one mentioned the injury the night before and because Mathews seemed plenty healthy running for a 63-yard touchdown after the supposed groin tweak.
But as the team returned to practice after the bye week, Mathews corroborated Kelly’s story.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Mathews said on Tuesday when asked if his groin was a problem against Carolina. “I tweaked it on a run play and I told Duce [Staley] about it.”
Against the Panthers, Mathews had just six carries despite being the team’s more productive runner. After his 22-yard run in the first half (the injury play), he went 12 game minutes before his next carry, when he broke free for a 63-yard touchdown.
Yes, according to Mathews, he did break off the longest run of his NFL career with an injured groin.
Mathews should be fine coming off the bye week. Mathews has clearly been the Eagles best RB so far this season yet often gives way to DeMarco Murray. Mathews is averaging about eight carries a game and many feel it should be more based on his performance, however that's not expected to change.
Eagles news
