Philadelphia Eagles: Jay Ajayi injury takes situation from bad to worse

A 2-3 record has the Philadelphia Eagles in panic mode, and the loss of starting running back Jay Ajayi to a season-ending injury is only making things worse.

The defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles find themselves at a crossroads through just five games of the NFL season. With a 2-3 record, including two consecutive losses, things aren’t going exactly as planned. Adding to the tough start of the season was the news regarding starting running back Jay Ajayi.

It was announced Monday night that Ajayi has a torn ACL and will be placed on the Injured Reserve, ending his 2018 season. This is a huge blow for an Eagles lineup that is already hampered with injuries on the offensive side of the ball.

The Eagles have already lost wide receiver Mike Wallace to season-ending injury and their backfield has been banged up as well. Darren Sproles hasn’t played since Week 1 against Atlanta. Second-year back Corey Clement hasn’t played the last two weeks due to a quad injury.

If Sproles and Clement are out an extended period of time, the Eagles will hand all their running duties to little-used Wendell Smallwood and Rookie Josh Adams.

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Entering the season the Eagles running back corps was seen as one of the strongest areas on the roster. Now, all of a sudden, the Eagles are without their top three players at the position. Clement and Sproles seem like they could be back playing sooner rather than later, at least that’s what Eagles fans are hoping for.

Ajayi was seen as the Eagles workhorse coming into the season as they let LeGarrette Blount leave for Detroit in free agency. Now the Eagles might be scrambling to make a quick fix.

Everyone’s hopes are that the Eagles make a trade for disgruntled Steelers star Le’Veon Bell, but that would come at a steep price. The Eagles will have to trade a player or draft picks (or both), plus they’ll have to pay some big bucks to sign him to a long-term deal.

Obviously nobody will be mad if the Eagles make a move for Bell, but is it the best thing for this team? While the Eagles haven’t dominated running the ball, it clearly wasn’t their only problem. Would a trade for Bell be enough to save their season? That’s tough to say. The Eagles have a lot of holes to fill on both sides of the ball.

No matter what happens the Eagles are finding themselves in must-win situations for the next couple of weeks, at least. If things weren’t already bad enough with a 2-3 record, this injury to Ajayi was just icing on the cake. All they can do is take it one game at a time. A win against the lowly Giants would help the Eagles fan base calm down a little. But if the Eagles lose, this could be a season to forget.