The Philadelphia Eagles tried a bit of gamesmanship this week by making it sound like Jalen Hurts might be the starting quarterback. But, as expected, he won’t be under center. Gardner Minshew will be installed as QB1 on Saturday night versus the Dallas Cowboys, according to Nick Sirianni.
The Eagles’ leader — a trendy pick for NFL Coach of the Year — made the announcement during a Thursday morning press conference. Sirianni revealed that Minshew was in constant communication with the coaching staff when he was away at Mike Leach’s memorial service, via video clips and Zoom calls, and stayed on top of install preparations.
“Gardner will be our guy and Gardner will be ready,” Sirianni said. “Gardner worked his butt off for this opportunity against a really good football team, had a great practice yesterday and I think you guys have all heard that, of how good of a practice he had yesterday, a lot of energy out there and he’s ready to go.”
“Gardner’s ready to go.” – Coach Sirianni
He wouldn’t say if Hurts would be ready to go in Week 17 against New Orleans. No timetable there: “One day at a time, one game at a time,” per Sirianni. However, the head coach was quick to go on record with how tough his quarterback is. Hurts did everything in his power to make the start on Christmas Eve.
“Jalen did everything he possibly could to get his body ready to go and, at the end of the day, he’s not going to be able to do it,” Sirianni said. “And, man, he tried like crazy, and I know he still wants to go. Jalen Hurts is the toughest player I’ve ever been around. He’s the toughest son of a gun I’ve ever been around. We felt like it was the best thing that he doesn’t play this week. His body’s just not there yet.”
Gardner Minshew’s last start: 2021 against the Jets:
• 20/25
• 242 Pass Yards
• 2 TD
• 0 INT
– Dallas Goedert had 6 RECs for 105 yards and 2 TDs. 👀
Eagles Not Worried About Minshew’s Lack of Snaps
Minshew has seen only 25 total snaps, all of them coming in garbage time. He has gone 2-of-4 for 34 yards in 3 games so far this season. The 26-year-old does boast 22 career starts over a four-year career, though. He’s no slouch. Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen understands how some could see it as a challenge throwing Minshew into the fire this late in the season, but he’s not worried.
“I think it could be tough, but again, he’s a guy who’s had experience and played a good amount of football,” Steichen told reporters. “Obviously, like you said, last year he came in against the Jets and played really well for us. If he has to play, again, have all the confidence in the world that he can go out and compete at a high level.”
Caught up with tight end Dallas Goedert just now after practice. Goedet said Gardner Minshew made several tight-window throws during practice. Minshew was fist pumping after every big completion he made. Goedert added Minshew was “slinging the hell out of the football.”
Of course, the Eagles will probably be employing a slightly tweaked offense with Minshew under center. He’s nowhere near the running threat that Hurts is on those dynamic (sometimes unstoppable) RPO plays.
“Both those guys do different things, so we obviously have a plan for both going into it,” Steichen said, “and we’ve been preparing upstairs and obviously for practice and all those different things.”
Gardner Minshew will start Saturday in Dallas
Nick Sirianni says Jalen Hurts did all he could. Nick feels it’s best to let Jalen rest and rehab
“He’s the toughest son of a gun I’ve ever been around”
Eagles Earn Whopping 8 Pro Bowl Selections
A whopping 8 Eagles players will be making the trip to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the Pro Bowl on February 5. Well, hopefully, none of them actually board the plane as the expectation is the team will be preparing for the Super Bowl at that time. Still, it’s quite an accomplishment to get that many Pro Bowl nods. Guys making the All-Star team included Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Miles Sanders, Darius Slay, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Haason Reddick, and Jason Kelce.
Aces to Vegas
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Eagles Make Final Decision on Starting QB vs. Cowboys