Josh Adams Suffers A Setback

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - It's just been one of those years for the Philadelphia Eagles.

With Monday's division game against Washington looming, the Eagles seemed to have finally fixed a running back situation that has been an issue for most of the season, especially since Jay Ajayi went down with a torn ACL.

Powerful undrafted rookie Josh Adams has opened the coaching staff's eyes and risen to the top of the depth chart while veteran Darren Sproles is finally ready to return after a 10-game absence due to persistent hamstring issues.

On Saturday, however, Adams was added to the injury report as limited with a hip issue and listed as questionable for the game against the Redskins.

The fact that Adams was practicing all week means he tweaked the hip at some point in the session and was unable to participate in a full manner.

If Adams is unable to go Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood will likely handle most of the RB duties with Sproles being mixed in after such a lengthy absence.

"You can't just say, 'Hey, Darren, here is the game plan, let's go, you're back one hundred percent, rocking and rolling, we are going to put you in and you are going to get ‘X’ numbers of touches and return every punt and do all that,'” coach Doug Pederson explained. "I think that's a disservice to him and in fairness to the rest of the guys."

Adams now leads the Eagles' runners with 291 yards and two touchdowns and has emerged over the past four games, with 45 carries for 245 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per tote. Meanwhile, his six runs of 15-or-more yards since the mid-point of the season is third in the NFL behind only Dallas' Ezekiel Elliott (nine) and Houston's Lamar Miller (eight).

"He's making really good strides in all three [phases], when I say protection, running the football and then catching the football," Pederson said earlier this week when discussing Adams. "He's getting incrementally better, and I think the more integrated we get him into the game plans and the more comfortable he becomes, I think you see him as a back -- and most running backs are this way, where they might not look pretty, early -- same with the offensive line, right? But as the game goes on and wears on, they get a little more explosive and a little more powerful and that's what Josh has become."

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen