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All signs are pointing to Gardner Minshew II making his first start of the 2022 campaign on Saturday night. He’s expected to fill in at quarterback for an injured Jalen Hurts, at least that’s where the smart money is being invested as the Philadelphia Eagles prepare for the Dallas Cowboys.
Head coach Nick Sirianni wasn’t ready to name Minshew the starter when he addressed the media on Tuesday. And Hurts refused to rule himself out for the Christmas Eve showdown. It’s probably just a bit of savvy gamemanship from a team in full control of their playoff destiny. Then again, never bet against the freakiest player in the NFL.
“Definitely a chance, taking it day by day,” Hurts told reporters when asked if he might play. “Everybody knows that I’m dealing with something, I think that’s pretty public, it’s out there. I’m not one to really talk about myself, obviously being the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles you can’t run from that.”
Hurts continued: “But I’m taking one day at a time with it, and preparing versus a really good defense, and we gonna talk about that defense today. Make sure we don’t miss that. A really good team, we know what they’re capable of on both sides of the ball. We know the challenges that it presents so we want to be ready for a good game of execution, and being ready to attack ’em.”
Hurts, of course, chided the Philly media twice last week for not asking him a question about the Bears’ defense. He wanted to make sure his comments about how good the Cowboys defense is went on the record. Smart move.
Hurts Knew Something Was Wrong Immediately
The play where Hurts sprained his shoulder was clear as day on the tape – Trevin Gipson landed on him; Hurts stayed down in pain — but the dual-threat quarterback remained in the game. Hurts revealed that he knew he was hurt as soon as it happened. Nobody knew the extent or severity of the injury, though.
“I knew when it happened. I’m very aware of my body,” Hurts said. “I’ve always been that way and I try to be mindful of those things and I’m pretty good at overcomonmg those different things so nonetheless nothing changes when it comes to my approach this week as it’s always been that way.”
Hurts went 6-of-9 for 102 passing yards after the injury, including a 68-yard dart to A.J. Brown. Sure, it was painful at times but nothing he couldn’t handle. He has tested it out in recent days and his throwing motion is fine.
“It took a lot of grit and it took some courage and it took the people around me,” Hurts said. “I think when you’re in a situation like that, you know we a have a ton of guys that have played through things, that have had to overcome adversity and obstacles in front of them, and I think that was something that we did together.”
Christmas Gifts for the Quarterbacks Room
When a reporter asked a question about his confidence in Gardner Minshew, Hurts used the opportunity to bring up some Christmas gifts he handed out in the quarterbacks room. Those Louis Vuitton travel bags he handed out to the Eagles’ offensive lineman weren’t the only gifts in the locker room. Hurts gifted Minshew and third-stringer Ian Book pairs of Jordan 11 basketball sneakers.
“Everybody’s talking about the Louis bags but nobody’s talking about the Jordan 11s I got ’em so I’m just saying that I’m appreciative of everybody in the quarterback rooms,” Hurts said. “The help that they’ve been for me — we’re all young players in that room, you could say we have young coaches as well — and we all bounce ideas off each other, we all challenge each other to get better, and it’s a room that I really appreciate.”
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