PHILADELPHIA – Meet your Week 6 Eagles running backs: Dameon Pierce and Carson Steele. No preseason prognosticator could have seen this coming. But here we are—no Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby, or Will Shipley. Only Barkley has avoided injured reserve among the three, and he will miss his second straight game.

“That's the story of the game, unfortunately,” said Steele, two days before the Eagles host the Carolina Panthers. “It's a blessing for me to be able to play, but it's unfortunate because guys are getting hurt.”

Pierce and Steele still dress at the very back of the locker room in the area the Eagles added in the offseason. They sit with their backs to each other, separated by a wide aisle. The two played together for a couple of weeks in Kansas City with the Chiefs.

“Carson is a great guy,” said Pierce. “Great guy. Cool, down to earth, man. You would think he from Cali, that's how cool he is.”

How great can they be together in Philly? We’re about to find out.

Carson Steele wearing many hats

Steele played his first 20 snaps with the Eagles last week. They all came on special teams. Earlier in the week, offensive coordinator Sean Mannion said Steele has worn a lot of hats for the Eagles in the first month of the season. He wasn’t kidding.

Steele said he has taken practice reps at tight end and lined up as a receiver. He could get some carries on Sunday and maybe even see some time at fullback, something Mannion alluded to when asked if that could happen.

Pierce went to London not expecting much playing time. He ended up with 48 snaps (77 percent) after Shipley left with a foot injury. He had 11 carries, but for just 14 yards.

“Shaking off some rust getting back acclimated to everything,” he said. “Just playing ball, getting comfortable, getting your feet back wet, man. Man, you don't forget how to ride a bike, but you can darn sure fall off of it.”

Pierce woke up on Monday feeling like he did fall of a bike.

“As soon as we landed from London, I got up like Frankenstein,” he said.

That Pierce was even able to be in London required some foresight. He had never been out of the country before, but he figured he should get a passport last year, just in case.

He looked like a breakout star in 2022 when he ran for 939 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie with the Texans. He hasn’t had a season like that since, and signed as a free agent with the Eagles. He was released after training camp but came back to work on the practice squad, hoping maybe he’d get another chance.

Now, "just in case" is here.

“That's part of working,” he said. “That's part of keeping your head down in this league, because the league can chew you up and swallow you if you let it.”