Ryan Mathews Injury Update: Eagles RB Placed on IR with Herniated Disk

Philadelphia Eagles running back Ryan Mathews has been placed on injured reserve due to a herniated disk, the team announced Tuesday.  

Mathews suffered the season-ending neck injury during the Eagles' Thursday night win over the New York Giants. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson described the injury to the media as "a pretty major deal," via ESPN.com's Tim McManus.

"I don't think it's career[-threatening]," Pederson continued. "I don't have all the information. What I got from our doctors this morning is that it looks like surgery is in the near future. It just has to get fixed."

Mathews has been battling inconsistencies and injury throughout his stint with the Eagles. In the second season of his three-year deal with the team, he was held to under 100 yards in 11 of 13 games while suffering an MCL injury that kept him out of Weeks 12 and 13. 

That time out would ensure that he wouldn't play in all 16 games of a season for the sixth time in his seven-year career.

But Mathews was coming off a season-best 128-yard performance in Week 15 against the Baltimore Ravens before suffering the herniated disk against the Giants on Thursday night. 

Originally slated to be the team's starter, he saw his 2016 season end with just 661 rushing yards and eight touchdowns, as he lost carries to Darren Sproles and Wendell Smallwood. 

Smallwood went down with a knee injury during Week 14 that ended his 2016 season as well.

That means Sproles will be the No. 1 back for the Eagles during their Week 17 finale against the Dallas Cowboys. At 6-9, this is a team just playing out the schedule before spending the offseason attempting to repiece its roster into a contender. 

Those plans might not include Mathews, even though he is owed $4 million next year, via Spotrac, given his inconsistencies and inability to stay on the field.

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.