Darren Sproles moves into fifth place in career all-purpose yards

Eagles running back Darren Sproles hit an impressive career milestone on Sunday.

During Philadelphia’s Week 5 win over the Jets, the veteran rusher moved into fifth place in career all-purpose yardage with 19,683, besting Tim Brown (19,682, 1988-2004).

It took a few weeks longer than expected, but Sproles needed 31 yards to take the No. 5 spot heading into Sunday’s contest. He had three punt returns for 28 total yards and three carries for 4 yards in the game to take fifth place.

The rest of the Top 5 include:

• Jerry Rice (1986-2004) — 23,546 yds
• Brian Mitchell (1990-2003) — 23,330 yds
• Walter Payton (1975-1987) — 21,803 yds
• Emmitt Smith (1990-2004) — 21,546 yds

Sproles joined the Eagles by way of a trade with the Saints in 2014, and with 2019 being his sixth season with the team, Philadelphia is where he’s spent the most time in his career. During those 6 years, despite injuries keeping him sidelined for most of the 2017 and 2018 season, he’s still had 290 carries for 1,320 yards and 12 touchdowns — in addition to 174 receptions for 1,456 yards and five more scores.

In addition to his contributions on offense, everyone knows that Sproles’ is also a valuable special teams piece accounting for 111 punt returns for 1,325 yards and four touchdowns during his time in Philly.

One of the motivating factors for Sproles returning to the Eagles in 2019 was wanting to be on the field for a Super Bowl win. He got his first career Super Bowl ring in 2017, but was on IR at the time. And, while he likely won’t end up jumping into the No. 4 all-time spot — needing nearly 2,000 yards by the end of this season — he still owns a special place in NFL history.

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NOTE: Sproles also suffered a quad injury during Sunday’s game and had to leave early. There’s been no update on his status.