Getty Images Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew of the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Philadelphia Eagles waited until the last minute to make it official, but the final decision was the expected one. Gardner Minshew II will start at quarterback on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. He will be looking to put an emphatic exclamation point on the regular season by clinching the NFC East, plus securing a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Minshew had been taking most of the first-team reps at practice this week, according to his teammates. Head coach Nick Sirianni toyed with the media all week by saying Jalen Hurts had a chance to play — and maybe he actually did after suiting up for two practices late in the week — but it’ll be Minshew in the penultimate game.
The Eagles officially listed Hurts doubtful on the final injury report heading into their Week 17 matchup. Sirianni revealed his process for picking a starting quarterback on Friday, detailing what the team was doing to get the backup ready to go.
“Gardner has been in this position where he has to do everything he has to do to prepare, on limited reps, on a lot of reps, all those different things, and that’s why Gardner is a great pro. We have a lot of confidence in him that he’s going to be ready no matter what the scenario is,” Sirianni told reporters. “Whether he’s the backup; whether he’s the starter, whether he’s right now the starter but turns into the backup, whether right now he’s the backup and turns into the starter, Gardner will make sure that he’s ready because that’s the type of guy he is and that’s the role that he has to play in that position.”
Gardner Minshew spoke today.
Jalen Hurts did not.
Here’s how Minshew handled questions about whether he’d be the starter Sunday.
Sirianni Liked Minshew’s Performance vs. Dallas
Minshew didn’t lead the Eagles to victory last week against Dallas, but he proved he could stand in the pocket and sling it. He even pulled off his best Jalen Hurts’ impression on a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown in the second quarter.
EVEN WITH MINSHEW THE QB SNEAK WORKS‼️
The veteran backup finished 24-of-40 for 355 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. There has been much debate over whether the 2 picks were his fault or bad reads by Quez Watkins. Either way, Sirianni liked what he saw out of Minshew.
“I thought that Gardner did a really nice job,” Sirianni told reporters. “I think he’ll want a couple plays back. We’re going to want a couple plays back as what we called, and a couple plays back of the positions we put guys in. Every player is going to want a couple plays they are going to want back.
“I thought Gardner really handled himself with a lot of poise. I thought he made some really nice plays. We were texting back and forth yesterday, I’m just going through corrections with him as I am texting him, and then also just some of the plays I thought he was really good.”
Gardner Minshew
18-27
270 yards
3 total TDs
DeVonta Smith 2 TDs
34-27 Birds
Eagles-Saints Release Final Injury Reports
Hurts is listed as doubtful on the final injury report, with Lane Johnson (groin) and Avonte Maddox (toe) officially ruled out for Sunday. The Eagles are fully healthy across the board outside of those players, including Miles Sanders who had been dealing with a knee issue earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Saints running back Alvin Kamara (quadricep) was a full participant at Friday’s practice. He’s good to go.
Here is the most recent injury update:
The Eagles haven’t released their injury report yet, but the Saints released theirs … and the Eagles’ as well?
And it shows Jalen Hurts doubtful, which means it’s a near lock Gardner Minshew starts again Sunday.
The last time the Eagles played the Saints featured a coming-out party of sorts for Jalen Hurts. The dual-threat quarterback broke off an ankle-breaking 24-yard touchdown scamper with 3:59 to go in the fourth quarter. That score put the bow on a 40-29 victory last season on November 21, 2021. Hurts has turned last year’s momentum into an MVP-type campaign in 2022.
While it’s safe to say that Sirianni has rewatched the tape from last year’s game, he’s smart enough to know these are two different teams about to battle this week at Lincoln Financial Field. No stone will get left unturned.
“So, you think about everything, and so you just try not to leave any stone unturned,” Sirianni said, “and you’re trying to put your guys in a position to succeed as much as you can, and that’s our job, is to turn every stone over to look for any answer we can.”
What a way for @JalenHurts to secure a hat trick!