Eagles' Kenneth Gainwell: Appears headed for Week 18 start

Gainwell took reps with the first-team offense during pregame drills and appears in line to start Sunday's game against the Giants, Zach Berman of The Athletic reports.

With the Eagles having locked up the NFC's No. 2 seed, normal lead back Saquon Barkley will be resting in the regular-season finale, leaving Gainwell and Will Shipley as the team's available backfield options after Philadelphia elected not to elevate Tyrion Davis-Price from the practice squad for the second week in a row. Though he has worked as Barkley's top backup all season, Gainwell probably won't be tasked with handling a three-down workload, as the Eagles presumably want Gainwell to escape Week 18 healthy so that he can reprise his usual change-of-pace role in the wild-card round. With that in mind, it wouldn't be surprising if Shipley ends up seeing the larger share of snaps, though both he and Gainwell could struggle to produce with their opportunities while playing behind an offensive line mostly consisting of reserve players.