One of the surprises leading up to Sunday’s 25-20 win over the host New England Patriots was the Philadelphia Eagles‘ decision to have veteran RB Rashaad Penny as one of their seven pregame inactives.
Third-year RB Kenneth Gainwell, who became one of the NFL’s best short-yardage backs last season, was the clear starter coming out of training camp and the preseason.
Explaining the Eagles’ Kenneth Gainwell, Rashaad Penny Decisions
Gainwell, who was known as an explosive playmaker coming out of Memphis, has become more of a grinding, decisive downhill runner with the Eagles, which is somewhat of a departure from how scouting sources viewed his college tape.
During his two seasons of play at Memphis, Gainwell averaged 6.6 yards per carry on 235 carries and 11.6 yards per catch on 57 receptions.
Some Eagles offensive coaches, who sources said were pushing for Gainwell to be selected in 2021, clearly have a lot of trust in him. He’s not only their starter at the position, but he handles several situational roles (short-yardage, third-down, two-minute, four-minute offense).
As for Penny being inactive, Philadelphia chose to dress just three backs for the game.
“There was just a number count. You saw that — I don’t ever want to come out of a game where D’Andre Swift has only two touches, either,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said after the game when asked why Penny was inactive.
“Where we were with numbers and some of the things, you know, our first three guys and through camp are those three guys, they dressed. So, like I said with Boston (Scott), to have four backs up, Boston and D’Andre both only had one carry, we have to play that number game.”
Swift’s role certainly could grow going forward, particularly because they gave up draft compensation, and he’s seen as the most explosive player on the roster at the position.
He was very active in the passing game during training camp, and it has been expected Swift would have a role in that area this season with his new team. Swift caught 156 passes during the first three seasons of his career with the Lions.
Defensively, a source said starting ILB Nakobe Dean (right foot) was expected to have an MRI to determine the extent of his injury. He went down during the third quarter and did not return to the game.
The Eagles only had three inside linebackers active for the game, and Dean was replaced by second-year pro Christian Elliss.