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The Philadelphia Eagles still need one more victory to clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It’s merely a formality in the minds of the masses, including defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. He’s looking forward to an all-expenses paid trip to Arizona in February for Super Bowl LVII.
Suh took to Twitter to send an enthusiastic New Year’s prediction to Eagles fans:
If the message sounds cocky, it isn’t. Suh — a one-time Super Bowl champion in Tampa Bay — playing the role of an optimist as a lot of people are starting to hit the panic button on the Eagles’ championship dream. Injuries to Jalen Hurts, Avonte Maddox, Lane Johnson, Jordan Davis, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson have slowed the hype train in recent days.
Not to worry, the players in the Eagles’ locker room don’t seem worried. They lost a very winnable game 40-34 last week in Dallas, but the bitter taste from that defeat has only emboldened them.
“Right now, I can feel the temperature in the locker room and the players and I think this is a really pissed-off team right now,” Fletcher Cox told Dave Spadaro. “We didn’t like the outcome of what went on today. We know the type of club that we are and I think this team is really pissed off.”
NFL Insider Says Jalen Hurts Won’t Play vs. Saints
Head coach Nick Sirianni went out of his way to detail Jalen Hurts’ toughness last week. He kept saying the quarterback was doing everything in his power to play through a right shoulder injury — what doctors are calling an SC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter — but maybe all of that was smoke and mirrors.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported the Eagles never gave any real consideration to Hurts playing against Dallas, adding that he would be “surprised” to see Hurts out there this week versus New Orleans. They might consider letting him play in Week 18 against the Giants.
Graziano wrote: “The impression I get from talking to people about this situation is that the Eagles believe they will have Hurts back before their first playoff game, but they still aren’t sure about the extent to which the injury will affect him once he does return.”
Hurts Wearing the Headset, Supporting from Sideline
Jalen Hurts made the trip down to Dallas and stood next to quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson on the sideline during Saturday’s game. The FOX cameras caught him celebrating a QB sneak for a touchdown by Gardner Minshew, as well as several other momentum-swinging plays for the Eagles. He even came over to console Miles Sanders at one point following his fumble.
Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen was asked if Hurts had any input in any of the in-game play-calling on Christmas Eve. Here’s what he said: “He was just listening just like when most quarterbacks are out, they all have a little earpiece in or headset on and listening to the calls.”
Steichen elaborated that Hurts could probably benefit from standing there and watching the offense. Taking a step back can help players see the bigger picture.
“I think you can always learn from anybody,” Steichen said. “If you’re not playing, you can learn from those situations, anything that comes up in the game, certain coverages, blitzes, all those different things. But yeah, you can always learn.”
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