At the beginning of the season, LeSean McCoy made some lofty expectations for himself. The Philadelphia Eagles running back told the media he intended on leading the league in yards, noting that he believed he was better than Adrian Peterson. However, through 11 weeks of the season, that has not be the case. In fact, it is DeMarco Murray leading the league and not McCoy. With the running back struggling in recent weeks, could players like Darren Sproles get more action?
McCoy put up 1,607 yards last season, but has just 729 yards this season in 10 games. At this point last season, he had 932. Some people might not make a big deal about this, but considering how much McCoy hyped himself up at the start of the year, a cause for concern is justified.
"I'm not even going to address 'am I the same player?'" McCoy said, via ESPN.com. "That's for you all to figure out." Are you crazy? I am the same player. I'm not going to sit here and play that game, like, 'Am I the same player? We see what teams do on tape. Then we see them, and they're doing things completely different against us."
McCoy's struggles could open the door for Sproles to get more playing time, something Eagles fans would welcome. Through the first two games, Sproles played on 37.4 percent of the team's snaps. Through the last eight games he has been on just 27.3 percent of the snaps despite averaging 5.8 yards per carry with four touchdowns to his name. Those numbers are better than the 3.7 yards per carry and two touchdowns McCoy has. Head coach Chip Kelly continues to voice his confidence in McCoy, but some must wonder how long that will last.
"I knew there would be games when I get less and games when I get more," Sproles said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It just comes from the way teams are playing me."
Kelly remains confident in the current starting rotation for the Eagles despite players like Sproles or tight end Zach Ertz who is also seeing a smaller amount of playing time than he would prefer. The rookie had 13 catches for 220 yards and a touchdown in his first four games, along with 17 catches for 210 yards and touchdown in the past six despite those being on fewer snaps.
"It's kind of a game-plan thing. Some weeks it's been hit or miss," Ertz said. "Early in the year it was more often, but recently it's just been keep the guys in there that are going. They're not really subbing that much. Darren [Sproles] and I are in a similar situation right now. We really don't know how much we're going to play going into a game."
