Saquon Barkley’s Hamstring Leaves the Eagles Thin in London

Saquon Barkley is week-to-week with a hamstring injury after leaving Philadelphia’s 24-20 loss to the Rams on Oct. 4. Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo said the strain is not a long-term problem, which keeps him off injured reserve for now.

That still leaves the 2-2 Eagles to meet the 3-1 Jaguars in London on Oct. 11 with Tank Bigsby headed for core-muscle surgery and Will Shipley as the only healthy running back on the 53-man roster.

Barkley Is Week-to-Week, Not on IR

Barkley pulled up on a run in the first quarter, dropped the ball out of bounds, and hopped on one leg before he went to the medical tent and then the locker room. He had two carries for eight yards and played four snaps. He did not return.

After tests on Monday, Rapoport and Garafolo said he is considered week to week with a hamstring injury and that the team does not view it as a long-term issue. Week-to-week is worse than day-to-day in NFL language. It usually means at least one missed game, and it also means Philadelphia can keep him on the 53 instead of burning a four-game injured-reserve stay.

#Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is considered week-to-week with his hamstring injury, per me and @MikeGarafolo. It’s not considered to be a long-term injury. pic.twitter.com/WvZgowe7Hs

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 6, 2026

Beat writer Jeff McLane, citing an NFL source, said Barkley is unlikely to play in London and will avoid short-term IR. Head coach Nick Sirianni would not say on Monday whether Barkley will be available against Jacksonville.

I know he’ll do everything he can do to get himself back. Obviously, he’s a great player and a great teammate, and we always need him on the field.

Nick Sirianni, Eagles head coach

Sirianni also said the staff should have more answers on Wednesday, once treatment shows how the muscle responds. A right hamstring that feels fine at a jog can still fail at full speed, and the first weeks back are when these strains go again. A London kickoff five days after the pull is a poor place to find that out.

One Healthy Back on the 53-Man Roster

Bigsby became the lead back after Barkley left, then went down himself in the closing minutes when Rams linebacker Byron Young tackled him on a short run to the right. Rapoport said Bigsby needs core-muscle surgery at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia, will go on injured reserve, and that the hope is a return in six weeks or less. Injured reserve still costs him four games at minimum.

He carried 14 times for 55 yards against the Rams, his high as an Eagle, and he has 91 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries this season. Philadelphia got him from Jacksonville before Week 2 last year for late-round picks. He will now watch his former club from the injury list.

THE PHILADELPHIA BACKFIELD

Shipley, a 2024 fourth-round pick out of Clemson, ran six times for 23 yards on Sunday and is at 51 yards on 15 carries (3.4 per rush) this season. After Barkley exited, Shipley and Bigsby each played 29 snaps. He caught 85 passes in three college seasons, so the passing-down work is the part of this job he is built for. Early downs are the open question.

PRACTICE SQUAD OPTIONS

• Dameon Pierce: He ran for 939 yards and a 4.3 average as a Texans rookie in 2022, missed most of camp with a hamstring, then went four carries for 44 yards in the last preseason game against Cincinnati.
• Carson Steele: The former Chief had 21 carries for 59 yards and 14 catches for 136 yards and two scores in the preseason.
• Jaydon Blue: Dallas’s former fifth-round pick ran for 129 yards and a touchdown with the Cowboys last season.

If Barkley is inactive in London, Philadelphia still has to dress a second and maybe a third back. Two of those three names are the simplest way to do it. A trade is possible, though a club that needs a back this late in the week pays for the panic.

Why a Friday Flight Changes the Call

The Eagles are not going to London early. Sirianni said the team will keep a normal practice week in Philadelphia, fly Friday night, sleep on the plane, land Saturday morning, hold a walkthrough, play Sunday, and fly home after the game. That puts them on the ground for less than 36 hours before kickoff.

THE LONDON WEEK

1. Oct. 4: Barkley leaves the Rams game with a hamstring. Bigsby is hurt late.
2. Oct. 5: Tests come back. Rapoport and Garafolo call Barkley week-to-week. Bigsby is lined up for surgery and IR. Sirianni declines to say whether Barkley will play.
3. Oct. 9: Planned overnight flight to London after a full week of practice at home.
4. Oct. 10: Saturday morning arrival, walkthrough, rest.
5. Oct. 11: Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 9:30 a.m. Eastern, then a flight home. Carolina visits on Oct. 18. There is no bye in between.

Sirianni said leaving Friday felt like the best thing for this roster and the weeks that follow, jet lag included. For a hamstring, the same calendar is a problem. Soft tissue wants rest, repeat sprint tests, and a quiet week. This plan offers a transatlantic overnight and a 9:30 a.m. Eastern kick. Sitting him is the clean way to keep a week-to-week injury from becoming a six-week one.

297 Rushing Yards Allowed in Four Games

Jacksonville is 3-1 and has won two straight. The run defense is why that record is not a mirage. League rushing-defense tables through Week 4 have the Jaguars at 297 rushing yards allowed on 91 carries, 3.3 yards per attempt, and two rushing touchdowns, second in the NFL.

JACKSONVILLE AGAINST THE RUN

• Four-game total: 297 rushing yards allowed on 91 carries (3.3 per rush).
• League rank: Second against the run through Week 4.
• Week 4 in Cincinnati: The Bengals managed 23 rushing yards.
• Touchdowns: Two rushing scores allowed all season.

A committee of Shipley, Pierce, Steele, and Blue is being asked to move that front on a short sleep in a foreign stadium. Philadelphia already ranks 15th in rushing yards and 29th in total yards, and the offense ran 47 plays and held the ball a little over 23 minutes against the Rams. Take Barkley out of that picture and Jacksonville can load the box for Hurts and dare anyone else to beat them on the ground.

Barkley Has 182 Yards and Zero Scores

This is the same back who, two seasons ago, posted 2,005 rushing yards in 2024 on 345 carries (5.8 a pop) with 13 rushing touchdowns, plus 33 catches for 278 yards and two scores. The Eagles’ own media guide credits him with an NFL record 2,504 rushing yards including the playoffs that year, breaking Terrell Davis’s 1998 mark.

BARKLEY’S LAST THREE SEASONS

He still hit 1,140 yards and seven rushing scores on 280 carries in 2025, plus 37 catches for 273 yards and two scores, and he became the first Eagle since LeSean McCoy in 2013-14 with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He signed a two-year extension in March 2025. The 2026 version has the 5.1 yards per carry and none of the volume. He has 182 yards on 36 carries, zero touchdowns, and four catches for eight yards. A Week 2 stinger against Tennessee limited him to four carries for nine yards. He then went 15 for 82 at Chicago and two for eight against the Rams.

The efficiency is still there when he is on the field. The problem is that he has been on the field in pieces, and the next piece may not come until after London.

Hamstring Strains Rarely Clear Before Sunday

Rapoport and Garafolo were careful to say this is not a long-term injury. That is the fortunate half of the report. The other half is what hamstrings do to running backs who try to sprint through them.

An MRI study of NFL hamstring injuries in the American Journal of Sports Medicine found players missed 2.6 games on average. Grade I strains in that sample sat near one missed game. Grade II sat near two. Retraction and grade III cases ran much longer. Philadelphia has not given a grade. Until it does, week-to-week is a range, not a date.

Barkley already had a stinger two weeks earlier. He was still in a neck roll against the Rams. Stacking a hamstring on top of that, then asking him to open up on a Tottenham turf after an overnight flight, is how a one-week absence turns into a month. The safer path is to let Shipley and a practice-squad partner take Oct. 11, then use the Carolina week at home as the first real sprint test.

Jalen Hurts Inherits What the Backfield Cannot

The hole is not only at running back. DeVonta Smith (hamstring) and Dallas Goedert (knee) were already out against the Rams. Cam Jurgens self-reported concussion symptoms on Monday and entered the protocol. Landon Dickerson is on injured reserve with a knee. Lane Johnson missed the Rams game for personal reasons. Quinyon Mitchell (knee) and Jonathan Greenard (ankle) went down during it.

ALREADY MISSING ON OFFENSE

• Smith and Goedert: The top wideout and the starting tight end sat out the Rams game.
• Jurgens: The interior lineman is in the concussion protocol after reporting symptoms on Monday.
• Dickerson: The guard remains on injured reserve with a knee injury.
• Barkley and Bigsby: The top two backs are now week-to-week and on IR in the same 24-hour window.

Jalen Hurts will have to create yards that the backfield cannot, because play-action only works if the defense believes the run. Jacksonville just held Cincinnati to 23 rushing yards. Philadelphia has scored 18.8 points a game. A 2-2 club that already dropped two straight is walking into Tottenham with a third-stringer, a practice-squad committee, and a quarterback who will see extra bodies in the box.

The Eagles will practice in Philadelphia, board a Friday night flight, and land Saturday morning for a walkthrough. Kickoff at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is 9:30 a.m. Eastern on Oct. 11. Sirianni said he should have more answers on Wednesday.