Apparently, Ryan Mathews really was hurt.
Last Monday afternoon, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly surprised everyone when he said Mathews hurt his groin in the first half in the loss to Carolina (see story).
It was surprising because no one mentioned the injury the night before and because Mathews seemed plenty healthy running for a 63-yard touchdown after the supposed groin tweak.
But as the team returned to practice after the bye week, Mathews corroborated Kelly’s story.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Mathews said on Tuesday when asked if his groin was a problem against Carolina. “I tweaked it on a run play and I told Duce [Staley] about it.”
Against the Panthers, Mathews had just six carries despite being the team’s more productive runner. After his 22-yard run in the first half (the injury play), he went 12 game minutes before his next carry, when he broke free for a 63-yard touchdown.
Yes, according to Mathews, he did break off the longest run of his NFL career with an injured groin.
“I just wasn’t sure if it was going to lock up on me and be done from there,” he said. “It went through and I was able to get in and get another carry after that and everything. Everything was precautionary after that.”
On Tuesday, Mathews said he feels healthy and confident he'll play on Sunday night against Dallas.
The questions about the lack of carries for Mathews arose last week because Mathews has been much more productive than feature back DeMarco Murray. On the season, Mathews has 56 carries for 342 yards (6.1 yards per carry), while DeMarco Murray has 88 carries for 307 yards (3.5).
Mathews said he knew what he signed up for when he came to Philly and doesn’t mind being second fiddle in the running back rotation.
“I’ve always split carries ever since I came in the league,” he said. “I was always in a running back rotation. It doesn’t bother me much. [DeMarco Murray has] done a lot of great things in his career to get where he’s at and he deserves it.”