After suffering a brutal loss to the Dallas Cowboys to end their winning streak, the Philadelphia Eagles have to turn around on a short week to face the 8-3 Chicago Bears at Lincoln Financial Field on Black Friday, but, unfortunately, they might not be 100 percent at kickoff.
That's right, after losing Andrew Mukuba to a fractured ankle in Week 12, the Eagles were without DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley as full participants at their Tuesday workthrough as the duo work back from injuries suffered against the Cowboys, as reported by NFL.com's Tom Pelissero.
“Eagles WR DeVonta Smith was listed as a nonparticipant in practice today because of shoulder/chest injuries,” Pelissero wrote. “Meanwhile, RB Saquon Barkley was listed as limited with a groin injury. The team held a walkthrough, so the participation is an estimate.”
While Barkley has appeared in every game the Eagles have played in 2025 so far, his play and production have simply looked off compared to his incredible efforts in 2024. Some of that might have to do with the offensive line taking a step back, some to do with Kevin Patullo's playcalling, and some still with Barkley lacking the fearlessness he ran with last season, but a groin injury may help to explain why some of his lethal lateral agility has disappeared in 2025.
If Barkley can't play, or is at least limited, fans will get to see more of Tank Bigsby, who has played very well in limited action and could put his 9.1 yards per carry average to good use in an offense that has struggled to move he ball on the ground as of late.
If Smith is unable to play, the Eagles will turn to the trio of superstar AJ Brown, Dallas Goedert, and Jahan Dotson to pick up the slack, with reserve Darius Cooper stepping up into the WR3 spot after returning from IR earlier in the month.
