Eagles will host Jay Ajayi on Friday
The veteran running back knows the offense and is coming in as Darren Sproles seems to have reinjured his quadriceps.
Jay Ajayi, the hard-charging running back who helped boost the Eagles to their only Super Bowl title, will visit the NovaCare Complex on Friday, a source close to the situation confirmed Thursday night.
The visit was first reported by the NFL Network.
Ajayi, still only 26, was the 2017 trade-deadline acquisition from Miami who added quickness and physicality to the Eagles’ backfield. He gained 408 yards on 70 carries, in seven games. 5.8 yards per carry. In Super Bowl LII, Ajayi gained 57 yards on nine carries, 6.3 yards per carry. He suffered an ACL tear in Week 5 last season, to a knee that some teams had already flagged during the 2015 draft process, which saw him drop to the fifth round.
The Eagles let Ajayi become a free agent last spring, but there was little interest in him around the league, since he wasn’t close to being ready to play. A little more than a month ago, agent Drew Rosenhaus said Ajayi was healthy and in shape and would start working out for teams.
The Eagles’ interest, at a time when their running game seems to be working really well with Jordan Howard and rookie Miles Sanders, is a bit surprising. Howard has been limited in practice this week with a shoulder injury, and 36-year-old Darren Sproles suddenly appeared on the injury report Thursday with a quadriceps problem. Sproles returned in the victory over the Bears, the Eagles’ most recent game, from a three-week quad injury absence; this presumably is a reinjury.
The 5-4 Eagles take on 8-1 New England Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.