Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson defends use of RB Jay Ajayi

PHILADELPHIA -- Jay Ajayi arrived in Philadelphia with a reputation as a selfish player. So, when he was less than cheerful after getting just five carries in Sunday's 31-3 win over the Chicago Bears, a lot of people took it to mean he was unhappy with his workload in his third game as an Eagle.

Asked several times about his performance, which included a 30-yard run in which he fumbled just short of the goal line, he gave similar versions of "I just run the plays the coaches call."

But Eagles head coach Doug Pederson insisted Monday that Ajayi had no problem with the way he was used in the lopsided win. He said Ajayi was just frustrated about his fumble, which was recovered by teammate Nelson Agholor for a touchdown.

"He's fine," said Pederson. "He's so excited to be here obviously. He's on a winning football team and contributes any way he wants to."

The Eagles have a running back-by-committee system, rotating Ajayi with LeGarrette Blount and rookie Corey Clement.

In three games with the Eagles, Ajayi has played 52 of 211 snaps, or 24.6 percent. He has rushed for 194 yards on just 20 carries, which figures out to an impressive 9.7 yards per carry. He has three runs of 30-plus yards.

But Blount still is getting more snaps and more carries. He has played 39.3 percent of the snaps and has 37 carries since Ajayi arrived.

A big part of the reason for that, however, is the fact that all three of the games have been blowouts, and Pederson doesn't want to waste Ajayi in garbage time.

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A year ago, the Eagles finished 24th in red-zone offense, converting just 49.1 percent of their trips inside the 20 into touchdowns. Red-zone improvement was a major point of emphasis in the offseason and in training camp.

The emphasis worked. Eleven games into the season, the Eagles are first in red-zone offense with a 71.8 percent touchdown rate. Carson Wentz has a 65.3 completion percentage inside the red zone and is the only quarterback in the league who hasn't turned the ball over or been sacked inside the 20.

"I challenged our guys offensively," head coach Doug Pederson said. "We had to make a conscious effort that if we are going to get the ball down in that area, we've got to execute better. We've got to run the ball better. We've got to take care of the football better down there. And they really have done that since that point."

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With all of the touchdowns they have been scoring this season, the Eagles are getting really good at touchdown celebrations. They have choreographed celebrations from posing for family photos to mimicking bowling pins that get knocked over to hitting a home run. But the Eagles' defense one-upped them Sunday doing a group version of the electric slide after forcing a Bears turnover.

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The Eagles held the Bears to 6 rushing yards on 14 carries Sunday. Jordan Howard, who came into the game as the league's third-leading rusher with 841 yards, finished with 6 yards on seven carries. Take out quarterback Mitchell Trubisky's 12 ground yards and the Bears finished with minus-6 rushing yards.

"A good day," defensive end Chris Long said. "That's a group that's run for a hundred yards a bunch this year. We played a good game in Dallas last week, but we wanted to step up our run defense. I think that was a challenge that we met."

NOTES: LB Joe Walker suffered a stinger early in Sunday's game against the Bears and didn't return. Head coach Doug Pederson said he will be monitored during the week. It's unlikely he will practice on Wednesday. ... TE Zach Ertz, who had been held to six catches for 42 yards in the Eagles' previous two games, had 10 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown against the Bears. He has seven touchdown catches, all of them in the red zone. ... DT Fletcher Cox had a sack, a quarterback hit and two hurries Sunday for four total pressures. Cox has had three or more pressure in six straight games. ... CB Sidney Jones, the Eagles' second-round pick who is recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon, likely won't be activated from the reserve/non-football injury list this season. The Eagles would prefer to give him extra time to make a complete recovery.

REPORT CARD VS. BEARS

--PASSING OFFENSE: A -- Carson Wentz threw three more touchdown passes, all of them coming in the red zone. He has thrown 22 TD passes in the last seven games and has just three interceptions in his last 282 attempts. TE Zach Ertz, who had just six catches for 42 yards in his last two games, had 10 catches for 103 yards against the Bears, including his seventh touchdown catch. All seven have come in the red zone.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: A-minus -- The Eagles, who had rushed for 412 yards on 70 carries in wins over Denver and Dallas, rushed for 176 yards against the Bears, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. LeGarrette Blount and Jay Ajayi both had 30-plus-yard runs, though both also put the ball on the carpet. Since acquiring Ajayi at the trade deadline, the Eagles have averaged 5.7 yards per carry.

--PASS DEFENSE: A-minus -- Rookie Mitchell Trubisky's seventh NFL start was ugly. He had a 38.3 passer rating, averaging just 4.4 yards per attempt and throwing two interceptions, which matched the number he threw in his first six starts. For the second straight game, the Eagles didn't allow a touchdown pass and didn't give up a completion longer than 19 yards.

--RUSH DEFENSE: A-plus -- The Bears' running attack, which was ranked fifth in the league going into the game, figured to be a good test for the Eagles' defense. But like so many other opponents the Eagles have faced, they were able to get ahead quickly and scuttle the Bears' offensive game plan. The Bears, who had been averaging 29 rushing attempts per game, ran the ball just 14 times against the Eagles for all of 6 yards. Jordan Howard, the league's third-ranked rusher, had 6 yards on seven carries.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: B -- The Eagles had another breakdown on their kickoff coverage, giving up a 39-yard return to the Bears' Tarik Cohen. Jake Elliott returned from his Week 11 concussion and hit his only field-goal attempt, a 45-yarder. Punt returner Kenjon Barner had a 17-yard return.

--COACHING: B-plus -- With a west coast trip to play the Seahawks and Rams up next, it would have been easy to lay an egg against the 3-7 Bears. This hardly was the Eagles' best game. But they still won going away.