Jay Ajayi is on IR, but Corey Clement is ready to return. He's expected to play in a tandem with Wendell Smallwood on Thursday night against the Giants. The Philadelphia Inquirer thinks Clement will play a little more due to his receiving ability.

While that's possible, the Eagles haven't really built their offense around passing to their running backs. Last year the team's running backs accounted for 16 percent of the team receptions, which ranked last in the league.

RUNNING BACK RECEIVING, PERCENT OF TEAM, 2017
TEamNoYdsTD%Rec%Yds%TD
New Orleans1431254637%27%19%
Cleveland109923335%26%20%
Chicago98731334%24%23%
Buffalo96665233%22%13%
Carolina94752732%23%32%
San Francisco113845231%20%13%
Baltimore113690431%21%20%
New England120919931%21%39%
Jacksonville96785330%21%14%
NY Giants105608128%17%5%
Cincinnati81750227%22%8%
NY Jets86709227%20%11%
Denver87699226%19%11%
LA Chargers93816725%18%25%
Oakland87637225%17%9%
Kansas City90683525%16%19%
Washington86885625%22%22%
Arizona84737025%19%0%
Minnesota84682224%17%8%
Seattle79749323%19%9%
Pittsburgh89670323%15%10%
LA Rams74842623%21%21%
Houston67605322%17%11%
Detroit82634322%14%10%
Indianapolis62542222%17%15%
Atlanta68650420%16%19%
Green Bay68499319%14%12%
Miami70491219%13%8%
Dallas57542318%16%14%
Tampa Bay69521118%11%4%
Tennessee50402216%12%14%
Philadelphia53496416%13%11%

It's a new year, but thus far Eagles running backs account for 27 of the team's 137 receptions -- just under 20 percent. That would have been better than just five other teams a year ago.

Clement caught 5 passes for 55 yards in his best game, back in Week 2 with Nick Foles at quarterback. Ajayi and Smallwood each caught 1 pass in that game. Now it should be just 2 backs fighting for those chances (until Sproles returns, anyway), but the passing game won't necessarily be built around those players catching passes. It hasn't been since the start of last season, anyway.

--Andy Richardson