The Eagles placed Jay Ajayi on injured reserve on Monday due to a torn ACL and it didn’t take long for speculation about trading for a running back to replace him on the roster to start up.
That wouldn’t be out of character for Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman. He traded for Ajayi during the 2017 season, but another member of the backfield said after Thursday’s win that he asked Roseman not to do the same this year.
Running back Corey Clement said that Roseman told him that he and the other backs need to provide a good reason not to look outside the organization.
“This game was definitely a test for us, to see do we need to get somebody,” Clement said, via Philly.com. “I talked to Howie [Roseman] 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.’”
Clement ran 11 times for 43 yards and a touchdown while catching three passes for 26 yards in the 34-13 win over the Giants. Wendell Smallwood chipped in with 18 carries for 51 yards while Josh Adams only played on special teams. Darren Sproles is also on hand, although he’s been out with a hamstring injury.
Those efforts probably won’t rush Roseman into making a deal, but they also are unlikely to stop him from seeing what’s available. The Eagles will play twice more before the October 30 trade deadline.