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Jalen Hurts has officially been ruled out for Week 16. Gardner Minshew II will be under center for the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night versus the Dallas Cowboys. He’s ready to clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed with a victory over the team’s most hated division rival.
Minshew knows the Christmas Eve showdown puts him in the national spotlight. He is auditioning for 31 NFL teams since he’s an unrestricted free agent in 2023.
“Every time you step out there, that’s what it is, it’s an audition,” Minshew told John McMullen. “That tape never goes away. So, you just go out there and try to help your team win. If you do that, I think everything will work out.”
Head coach Nick Sirianni added: “Gardner will be our guy and Gardner will be ready. Gardner worked his butt off for this opportunity against a really good football team and had a great practice yesterday.”
Other than Hurts, the Eagles enter the matchup healthy. Reserve tight end Tyree Jackson (knee) was the only player not named Hurts ruled out. Receiver Zach Pascal (concussion) was listed questionable while safeties Reed Blankenship (knee) and K’Von Wallace (hip) were both full participants at Thursday’s practice.
Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs Questionable
The Cowboys could be down two defensive starters due to a non-COVID illness infecting the locker room. Linebacker Micah Parsons and cornerback Trevon Diggs were both listed questionable on the team’s final injury report. Parsons — the most hated man in Philly — was a limited participant at Thursday’s practice, while Diggs sat the session out.
Dallas also listed defensive end Dorance Armstrong (knee) questionable as well as tight end Jake Ferguson (concussion). Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (neck) was ruled out. Dallas has the following players on injured reserve: cornerback Anthony Brown, cornerback Jourdan Lewis, right tackle Terence Steele, and defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins.
Eagles Could Rest Starters, Play Vanilla Offense
There’s a good chance the Eagles could see the Cowboys again in the postseason tournament. This week is all about gamesmanship as the coaching staff decides whether it’s worth risking injuries to key starters over clinching the No. 1 seed. Remember, Philadelphia can secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a Vikings loss and a win over the Saints next week.
Head coach Nick Sirianni probably doesn’t want to show Dallas everything in his offensive arsenal either. His play-calling chart will most likely be dialed down a bit, perhaps a more vanilla gameplan will keep the Cowboys guessing for their next matchup. Of course, Sirianni would never admit that.
“You have to do what you have to do to win this game, and that’s always our sole focus,” Sirianni said. “Then there’s a time for after this game [to ask yourself] what did we do this game, how can we mesh this or how can we do that to make it look like this.
“You do what you need to do every single game. You always are in the moment. You’ll never get that out of me where I’m saying, ‘Hey, let’s think about in three weeks here.’ It’s always how do we do what we need to do to win this game, and then we’ll worry about how we mesh things together later if we do play them again.”
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