Ryan Mathews

Doug Pederson said Monday he’s considering replacing Ryan Mathews with 33-year-old Darren Sproles as the Eagles’ primary running back.

Pederson said he's evaluating how to proceed at the running back spot, which has been somewhat muddled for the Eagles this year.

Asked whether Sproles will be the Eagles’ featured back moving forward, Pederson sure sounded like he was leaning that way. Or at least seriously considering it.

“I can't say that 100 percent,” he said. “It's something we'll evaluate in these next couple of days and make that determination.

“But until then, it's still Ryan Mathews and then Darren in those situations. And then we've got to get Wendell Smallwood and Kenjon Barner going a little bit, too.”

One can argue this has already happened based on the touches against the Cowboys last week. The problem is the team also feels Sproles likely won't hold up with the punishment of a big workload, but fumbling issues by Mathews and Smallwood have left the team very little choice. Back in weeks 6 and 7, Sproles had just five touches each week and then 20 this past week, his most this season. He's certainly worth an add, but 20 touches going forward certainly isn't guaranteed.