Saquon Barkley was questionable to return to the Philadelphia Eagles vs Tennessee Titans game due to an arm stinger. Hence, the team from the City of Brotherly Love might have to use the rest of the RB depth chart available even if he is back.
The Eagles rely heavily on their running game as it helps the team unleash the rest of the offense and make life easier for quarterback Jalen Hurts. Fortunately for the Eagles, they have quite a good running back room:
- Saquon Barkley
- Will Shipley
- Tank Bigsby
What is an arm stinger?
An arm stinger —also called a burner or brachial plexus neuropraxia— is a temporary nerve injury that causes a sharp, electric-shock-like pain shooting from the neck down the arm. During the play where the stinger happened, Barkley’s brachial plexus must’ve gotten stretched or pinched.
I wanted to dive deeper into this as a PT.
— Dr. Ribu Thomas PT, DPT (@Ribu18) September 20, 2026
Eagles have Saquon Barkley questionable to return with a stinger. Early in the game he took upper body contact as the ball carrier, went to the medical tent, then the locker room. Underdog also noted left arm involvement on the tent… https://t.co/4wQIYSNPMK pic.twitter.com/Sm0I6J0cOA
It is very common in high-impact sports like football, rugby, wrestling, and ice hockey when the head is forced to one side while the shoulder is pushed down. To return, Barkley must recover completely in terms of pain, numbness, and weakness.
Barkley is in a bounce back year
Usually an elite running back, Saquon Barkley had some sort of a down year in 2025 after blowing the league away in 2024. Barkley went from 2005 rushing yards in 2024 to 1140 in 2025. Basically half. It also happened on the touchdowns where he went from 13 rushing TDs to just seven.
In Week 1 of this season, Barkley had 15 carries for 83 yards against the Commanders. While the raw numbers are great, he should be getting way more touches than that.
