Josh Adams and Donnel Pumphrey have been banged up and won't play Thursday night.
Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement have been injured as well and won't play Thursday but have the team made and don't need to.
Darren Sproles is healthy but he's Darren Sproles. He doesn't do preseason.
It leaves the Eagles a grand total of two running backs for the most significant preseason game of the summer.
Wendell Smallwood and Matt Jones appear to be the last men standing in the battle for the Eagles' fourth running back spot, behind Ajayi, Clement and Sproles.
Neither Smallwood nor Jones has done much to take command of this competition, so assuming the Eagles do keep four running backs - which is likely but not a lock - this game could go a long way toward determining their fate.
And since they'll likely be the Eagles' only running backs in uniform, both will presumably have plenty of reps to stake a claim to a spot on the 53-man roster. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. at FirstEnergy Stadium.
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Smallwood, a third-year pro, ran four times for one yard in New England last weekend. Jones was 6-for-19 and dropped three passes.
"(I want to see) consistency," Doug Pederson said. "I want to see how well they rebound, come back.
"It's a great opportunity for both of them. They're both veteran players, they've played a lot of football in this league. It's one of those sort of battles that we've been keeping our eye on this training camp and it's great for both of them."
Adams averaged 5.0 yards per carry against the Steelers on 6-for-30 but hasn't played since and could be earmarked for the practice squad. Adams did finally return to practice Tuesday, but his status for the game Thursday night is unknown and Pederson certainly didn't indicate he would be in the mix.
Pumphrey was having a solid camp before getting hurt and hasn't played in any preseason games.
Clement and Ajayi are expected to be OK for the season opener against the Falcons on Sept. 6 but we won't see them on the field before then.
It most likely leaves Smallwood, the Eagles' fifth-round pick in 2016, and Jones, the Redskins' third-round pick in 2015.
The Eagles finish the preseason with the Jets at home a week from Thursday, and Pederson seemed to indicate those two might be the only backs available for that game as well.
But the Browns game is pivotal because both will get opportunities to play with the first-team offense and against the Browns' starting defense.
"It's kind of ironic that it would come down to maybe a game or two here that these two guys are competing," he said.
"It's unfortunate for the other guys that are nicked up because we want to see them as well. At the same time, it's a great opportunity for Wendell and Matt and for them to get some really extensive time in this game."
