Eagles

Should the Eagles play Jalen Hurts on Saturday?

Andrew Abate   |  

Dec 21, 2022

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Week 15 went really well for the Philadelphia Eagles. After pulling out an ugly win in Chicago, they got to watch Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott throw a game-losing pick six in overtime against the Jaguars. The Eagles now need just one win in their last three games in order to secure the top seed in the NFC. 

There is no team in a better situation right now than the Eagles. However, these last few weeks of the regular season became a little more interesting on Monday when it was revealed that Jalen Hurts sprained his throwing shoulder in the third quarter of their game against the Bears. Hurts finished the game (and played well at that), but the injury is clearly serious enough where his status for Saturday and beyond is unclear at best. It had originally appeared that Gardner Minshew was very much in line to start on Christmas Eve, but Hurts and the coaching staff are not letting the public run with that information.

“He’s feeling great. If he’s ready to go, he will play”

-Eagles OC Shane Steichen on Jalen Hurts and says Eagles have a plan for both QBs pic.twitter.com/ssZaWOByOG

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) December 21, 2022

Is there actually a chance Hurts plays on Saturday, or is this just a form of gamesmanship to get the Cowboys to spend time preparing for two different quarterbacks? Either way, it presents the bigger question: Who should the Eagles play at quarterback this week?

We really do not know how serious Hurts’ injury is. He is undoubtedly a tough son of a gun who is going to do anything in his power to play in this game. Given the Eagles’ extremely favorable situation, though, perhaps it makes more sense to err on the side of caution and bank on Minshew being able to take one out of three games. Even if he can not pull off the win in Dallas, the Cowboys have already clinched a playoff spot (and are very unlikely to drop below the 5 seed anyway), and the Eagles will still have opportunities in home games against the Saints and Giants to get the job done (the front office will likely be very motivated to beat the Saints as well, since the Eagles own their first-round pick). 

Securing the 1 seed in Dallas on Christmas Eve in front of a national audience is obviously an absolute dream, but is it the smart play? On the other hand, is holding Hurts out until the divisional round of the playoffs – over a month away – good for maintaining his edge and preventing him from being rusty? It is quite the interesting debate that I can frankly very much see both sides of the argument for. How do you think the Eagles should approach this?

Photo: Yong Kim/Philadelphia Inquirer

Categorized:Eagles