Saquon Barkley, DeVonta Smith, Dontayvion Wicks miss practice for still-thin Eagles skill group
The Eagles might be trying to stop a five-game losing streak without three of its top offensive weapons.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (back/hamstring) and wide receivers DeVonta Smith (hamstring) and Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) were not present during the early portion of practice open to the media on Thursday.
The day prior, all three players were listed as non-participants on the estimated injury report, as the Eagles held a walkthrough on a short week ahead of Sunday night’s game against the Washington Commanders.
Their lack of practice time this week puts their availability for the Week 8 game into question, although the Eagles will have one more practice on Friday before releasing their final injury report with game statuses later that afternoon.
» READ MORE: How the Eagles should approach the NFL trade deadline | Best of unCovering the Birds
Both Smith and Wicks missed Monday night’s 38-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Smith, the Eagles’ top receiver, has now been inactive for three games this season because of his lingering hamstring injury. Wicks, who ranks second on the team in receiving yards this season behind Smith, was sidelined for his first game of the year against the Cowboys due to the ankle injury he sustained the week before against the Carolina Panthers.
Barkley returned to action against the Cowboys after a two-game layoff due to a hamstring injury. However, Barkley’s back locked up early in the game. He explained afterward that his back had started to “overcompensate” for his hamstring, which ultimately limited him to nine touches (seven carries for 62 yards and a touchdown, two receptions for nine yards).
He added that he didn’t believe the back injury would keep him out going forward, but he also deferred to the medical staff.
The number of running backs on the Eagles active roster and practice squad combined — three — would suggest that Barkley has a chance to play on Sunday night. Aside from Barkley, the Eagles have just one running back on the active roster in Jaydon Blue, whom they signed on Wednesday from the practice squad.
Blue, the Cowboys’ fifth-rounder out of Texas in 2025, originally signed to the Eagles’ practice squad on Sept. 1 after he was waived by Dallas. He signed to the active roster earlier this month ahead of Week 6 against the Carolina Panthers but did not play in that game. The Eagles waived Blue the following week and signed him to the practice squad.
The 22-year-old running back played in five games with the Cowboys last season, racking up 127 yards and a touchdown on 38 carries. He also had three kick returns in 2025 (24 yards per return), which could be useful to an Eagles team that lost two returners in Pierce and Britain Covey due to injury against the Cowboys.
Elijah Mitchell, who had three carries for 11 yards and three catches for 23 yards against the Cowboys, is the lone running back on the practice squad. He has two more game-day elevations remaining this season. Running backs Dameon Pierce, Tank Bigsby, Will Shipley, and Carson Steele are on injured reserve.
Roster moves
In addition to signing Blue to the active roster and placing Pierce on injured reserve on Wednesday, the Eagles signed guard Evan Beerntsen, wide receiver Quentin Skinner, and defensive back Shaun Wade to the practice squad.
Skinner appeared in one game as a member of the New York Jets last season, logging one catch for 10 yards.
Wade, a former fifth-round pick of the Ravens, played in 20 games as a member of the Patriots from 2021-23. He spent time with the Eagles in training camp and was previously a member of the practice squad from Sept. 24 to Oct. 13 before being released.
