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Eagles running back Ryan Mathews had 121 yards from scrimmage on nine touches during Sunday night’s loss to the Panthers, which led our Michael David Smith and others to wonder why he was used less often than DeMarco Murray.

It’s not the first time the question has been raised this season as Mathews’s 6.1 yards per carry are considerably better than what Murray has managed through the first seven weeks of the season. Murray has still touched the ball 43 more times than Mathews this season, a number that would presumably be even bigger if Murray hadn’t missed one game. Coach Chip Kelly offered an answer for why the workload broke down in Murray’s favor against Carolina.

Kelly said Monday that Mathews hurt his groin on a 22-yard run in the first half of the game. The injury wasn’t enough to sit him down for the rest of the night, but Kelly said that the team monitored his snaps closely the rest of the way as a result.

Mathews was well enough to score on a 63-yard run later in the evening and the Eagles have a bye in Week Eight, although Kelly wasn’t willing to predict whether Mathews will play when they return to the field against the Cowboys.

“He’s injured right now,” Kelly said, via 97.5 The Fanatic. “We will see if he is available for Dallas.”

The fact that Mathews, who reported no groin issues after the game, broke off that 63-yard score with a groin injury should probably go onto the list of reasons why the Eagles should consider rethinking the breakdown of their backfield over their week off.