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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is the consensus favorite to win NFL MVP honors. It’s more fact than opinion at this point despite a somewhat surprising amount of skepticism being fired at Hurts in recent days. That’s an argument for another day.
Let’s turn the conversation to the guys backing up Hurts. Head coach Nick Sirianni was recently asked to evaluate what has gone on behind the scenes with clipboard holders Gardner Minshew II and Ian Book. His ears perked up a bit when the question was asked, then smiled and gave an insightful answer about them.
Sirianni went into great detail about something different the Eagles have done this season in terms of scout team and developmental periods. The second-team offense, led by Minshew, has gone up against the first-team defense in practices. Vice versa, the first-team offense has battled the second-team defense.
“You’re doing that because not everything is scripted up the way you think it’s going to be scripted up in a game,” Sirianni told reporters on Friday. “You have to be ready to handle unknowns, and so we’re running our plays as an offense against our defense with the twos, and so that’s a great opportunity for us also to correct those guys. Sometimes with scout team reps you don’t always get to show them the day of and be like, ‘All right, here is what we have to correct.’ But we do with these reps, and so that’s been huge.”
The Eagles hold a developmental 7 vs. 7 period at the end of every practice, a lively session that has come to be known as the “Gardner Minshew Drill.”
“I’ll always forever refer to that as the Gardner Minshew drill, and here is why. Gardner got to us at the end of camp last year, and same with Ian [Book],” Sirianni said. “Gardner obviously put the work in that he needed to do to get himself ready to play in that Jets game, but we also gave him reps to have meaningful – our reps out there on the practice field where we could correct him.
“By the time – Gardner probably would’ve been ready no matter what, but I know it helped him a little bit that he had at least gotten some of our plays run and not just done scout team out there, and we were able to correct it.”
Sirianni was referring to last year’s Jets game where Minshew went 20-of-25 for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns during fill-in duty for Hurts. He started two games in 2021 but hasn’t been needed this season. Meanwhile, Book has been inactive for all 13 games so far. He may hold the New York Giants’ playoff fortunes in his hands in Week 18.
Eagles Keep Book Inactive, 4 Other Players
No surprise here: third-stringer Ian Book was inactive for a 14th straight game on Sunday. He was joined by injured safety Reed Blankenship, as well as running back Trey Sermon, defensive end Janarius Robinson, and guards Josh Sills and Sua Opeta. Tight end Dalals Goedert wasn’t added to the active roster; safety Anthony Harris wasn’t elevated from the practice squad.
Sirianni Not Worried About So-Called ‘Trap Game’
There is a thing in the NFL known as a trap game and the Week 15 matchup between the Bears and Eagles certainly qualifies as one. Chicago is out of playoff contention at 3-10. They boast one of the league’s worst defenses, yet quarterback Justin Fields has been a revelation.
Sirianni’s team should roll to an easy road win on Sunday, yet Sirianni remained worried when asked about the Bears. He doesn’t believe in so-called trap games.
“No, I don’t really believe that, because if your preparation is the same each and every week, it doesn’t really matter,” Sirianni said. “We all understand this, is that everybody in this league can play. Everybody in this league, if you’re not on your game, can beat you. We know about this team that we’re playing, whether their record is what it is, but they have been in every single game.”
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