Saquon Barkley Injury Update: Is Eagles RB Playing This Week?

The Philadelphia Eagles were disappointed in a big way when the Los Angeles Rams came storming back to beat them by a final of 24-20 on Sunday, and the letdowns didn’t stop there. Star RB Saquon Barkley sustained an injury that forced him out of the game.

The injury put Barkley on the shelf for the remainder of the contest and now has many wondering whether he’ll be available to play in Week 5. How realistic of a chance does he have to be cleared in time for Sunday?

We’ll outline the latest Saquon Barkley injury update and its potential impact on Eagles fantasy football picks and projections for PrizePicks. 

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Saquon Barkley Injury Update: Will Barkley Play in Week 5?

Time isn’t on Barkley’s side, as the Eagles are set to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET. In a Monday night report, Ian Rapoport revealed that the three-time Pro Bowler is dealing with a hamstring injury that renders him “week-to-week.”

That’s far from the best of news for Barkley or the Eagles. Philadelphia squares off with the Carolina Panthers in Week 6, then gets a longer week before going toe-to-toe with the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football in Week 7. 

If Barkley’s injury is indeed not viewed long-term in nature, perhaps he can be back for one of those tilts if he’s inactive this weekend. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said additional information on the situation could be coming on Wednesday once practice ramps back up.

After a “down” year in 2025 that still saw him record 4.5 yards per touch, 1,413 scrimmage yards and 9 TDs, Barkley returned to form a bit in Weeks 1-4. He’s done almost all of his work as a rusher, notching 5.1 yards per try and picking up 6 first downs with a 52.8% success rate that currently ranks as the best of his career. 

Via NFL Pro, Barkley has picked up 40 rushing yards over expected, which ranks eighth among all RBs to this point. His xYPC sits at just 4.0.

RB Tank Bigsby relieved Barkley on Sunday, toting the ball 14 times for 55 yards, but now he’s hurt as well. The 24-year-old is undergoing core muscle surgery that results in him landing on the injured reserve list. He’s out for the next four games at a minimum.

Eagles Fantasy Football Outlook & Depth Chart After Barkley Injury

Could the Eagles shift their philosophy with Barkley and Bigsby now injured? Via nfelo, this is an offense that carries the sixth-lowest pass rate over expected (-6.5%) through four games. The club’s RB options, as of the publishing of this article, are somewhat slim.

Shipley is the next man up on the depth chart, but he was nursing a foot injury as recently as the previous injury report. Elsewhere, the trio of RBs Dameon Pierce, Jaydon Blue, and Carson Steele is available to factor into things. Of that group, Pierce leads the way in career carries with 419, yards with 1,684, and TDs with 8. Shipley doesn’t have a ton of regular-season volume, and neither does Steele after starting his NFL tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Perhaps getting the duo of QB Jalen Hurts and WR DeVonta Smith going might help through the air. Per Pro Football Focus, this is a combination that owns just a 73.9 passer rating and produces 0.12 EPA per play. For reference, Hurts throwing to WR Dontayvion Wicks has yielded respective marks of 121.8 and 0.85. 

A lot of pressure could be on Hurts, who carries PrizePicks projections of 195.5 Pass Yards and 26.5 Rush Yards for Week 5, to shoulder the load. According to 4for4, he’s logged 26.1% of Philly’s red-zone rushing attempts this year. The infamous "Tush Push" figures to be a regular part of the arsenal regardless of who’s at the halfback spot throughout the game. 

Throwing very well may be the key to securing a win on Sunday, all things considered. RBSDM shows that Jacksonville is ceding the seventh-lowest rush EPA/play at -0.147 but gives up the 19th-ranked dropback success rate at 47.6%. 

Philadelphia rolls into Week 5 as a 6.5-point underdog against the Jaguars, according to PrizePicks, returning a 3.44x payout if it can pull off the upset.

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The Eagles’ offense has already stumbled on multiple occasions this year, and things could get even worse this weekend in London against the Jaguars if Barkley can’t suit up. With that said, PrizePicks has multiple projections for Philadelphia’s players and the team itself as Week 5 approaches.  

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