Ryan Mathews doesn't look as if he's playing second fiddle

Ryan Mathews was still out of breath 10 minutes after practice had ended.

Chip Kelly's up-tempo workouts will do that to first-timers, but Mathews' workload may have increased slightly with DeMarco Murray's absence. Murray sat out team drills Sunday because of dehydration, and on Thursday an illness sidelined the Eagles' prized acquisition.

Mathews, meanwhile, has plugged along under the radar, and would have dashed into the locker room unnoticed had a reporter not flagged him down. Ever since he signed with the Eagles, he's been somewhat of a forgotten man in Kelly's offseason makeover.

Which is fine with Mathews.

"No articles being written about me. No pictures. I don't care about that," Mathews said. "The only thing that matters is helping this team win games."

But it has been virtually impossible to watch the Eagles' first four practices of training camp and not notice Mathews. Murray's limited action has helped. But there may not be a player in camp as freakishly athletic. Mathews is a compact 6-foot, 220 pounds and can still move.

"It's kind of a unique combination to have," Kelly said. "There are not that many guys that are that big and are that fast. When we had the opportunity to get him - he was always in our plan in free agency - he was one of the guys we had targeted very early."

Mathews, of course, was lost in the hoopla and helicopters that accompanied Murray's signing with the Eagles in March. It's hard to imagine that a former first-round pick with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in the NFL could stand in anyone's shadow.

He didn't for ESPN analyst Lou Riddick. The former Eagles scout was at practices earlier this week and came away with the following assessment:

"Ryan Mathews is a better athlete with better natural run skills than Murray," Riddick said on Twitter. "Have always felt that. Compare side by side, it jumps out."

There's also a school of thought that Mathews is better suited to Kelly's offense. Both he and Murray have been described as one-cut, north-to-south runners. And they are of similar size. But Mathews' athleticism, the theory goes, would propel him through the holes quicker than Murray.

Mathews was originally linked to the Eagles first. The team initially had an agreement in place with free agent Frank Gore and had Mathews targeted as a complement to the former 49er. But when Gore backed out, Mathews seemingly became the remaining option to replace LeSean McCoy.

He arrived in Philadelphia to sign the deal, but the Eagles' flirtation with Murray began. There didn't appear to be much reason for either side to continue after Murray signed a five-year, $40 million contract. But both remained true to their word and Mathews agreed to a three-year, $11 million deal.

Murray is the NFL's reigning rushing champ. But Mathews' pedigree is as impressive.

"I think we have the same running style. The man's earned what he's got," Mathews said of Murray. "He's risen. That's why they wanted him here. That's why they paid him. I've just got to learn from him. And he can learn from me."

Even if Mathews was No. 2 to Murray's No. 1, the distribution of carries is unlikely to be as disparate as it was with McCoy over the previous two seasons. McCoy logged more than 64 percent of the Eagles' carries. The closest a backup got to him was Bryce Brown's 15 percent of rushes in 2013.

Kelly hasn't put a number on how he'll divvy up the touches. Darren Sproles is also part of the equation. But a 50-30-15 split among the top three running backs would be an early guess.

"When we had it rolling at Oregon, we had guys like Jonathan Stewart, who is playing for Carolina, and LeGarrette Blount," Kelly said.

Playing second fiddle will be something new for Mathews, who was drafted 10th overall by the Chargers in 2010. He averaged more than 15 carries a game in San Diego. In 2013, he rushed for 1,255 yards on 285 carries. Two years earlier, he tallied 1,091 yards on the ground on just 222 totes.

Mathews said he would be content with just two carries a game. But he doesn't expect to be underused with the Eagles' apparent commitment to getting back to a run-based offense that sets up the pass.

"It's a run-first offense - at least I think it's going to be a run-first offense," Mathews said. "We run the ball a lot. It's one cut and get up the field, and that's my style."

His style is also physical, and Mathews has taken his bumps and bruises over his career. He has missed 19 games to injury and played in all 16 games (2013) only once over a five-year span. He missed three games in 2010 with ankle injuries, two in 2011 with groin and calf injuries, four in 2012 with collarbone injuries, and 10 last season with knee and ankle injuries.

Mathews said he has never felt as healthy.

"I feel real good. They've got me pretty much dialed in [with the sports science program] and pretty much where they want me," Mathews said. "All I have to do is stick to the plan and keep buying in like I am."

@Jeff_McLane