The Philadelphia Eagles will likely be without quarterback Jalen Hurts for a second straight week after listing the NFL MVP candidate as doubtful for Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints.
Gardner Minshew is set to make a second consecutive start in place of Hurts, who sprained his right shoulder in Philadelphia’s 25-20 win over the Chicago Bears on December 18, as the 13-2 Eagles try to secure the NFC's number one seed and home-field advantage for the conference playoffs.
Hurts did return to practice Thursday and took part in Friday's session on a limited basis as well. However, ESPN reported that the Eagles decided to give the 2022 Pro Bowler an additional week of rest to ensure he can be healthy for the upcoming playoffs.
"Obviously the first and foremost thing that’s most important for Jalen is that his health is always taken into consideration first and if it’s safe for him to be out there," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni told reporters on Friday.
"Then from there, then you do what’s best for the team, but you first do what’s best for the individual."
Minshew also filled in for Hurts last week against the Dallas Cowboys, throwing for 355 yards and two touchdowns, including a fourth-quarter strike to Devonta Smith that briefly gave the Eagles a 34-27 lead.
The former Jacksonville Jaguars starter was intercepted twice as well, with the last leading to a tie-breaking field goal by Dallas in a game the rival Cowboys ultimately won 40-34.
"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," Sirianni said. "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."
The Eagles enter Week 17 with a one-game lead on the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC’s best record and are one-and-half games ahead of second-place Dallas in the NFC East. Philadelphia will clinch the conference’s top seed with a win in one of their two remaining regular-season games.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott reportedly expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined following an MRI, and reported Monday from multiple media outlets.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Cowboys quarterback Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with hamstring injury
The path to the play-offs is now even tougher for the Dallas Cowboys.
Quarterback Dak Prescott will reportedly miss several weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday's 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The severity of the injury was determined Monday following an MRI.
Prescott is planning to get a second opinion, and the Cowboys have not decided if they will place him on injured reserve, which would keep him on the sideline a minimum of four games.
Prescott, who signed a record-breaking, $240million contract hours before this season's opener, suffered the injury late in the third quarter.
He was replaced by Cooper Rush, and the seven-year backup will get the start this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against the Falcons, but couldn't rally Dallas all the way back.
The Cowboys ended up losing their third straight game to drop to 3-5, which matches the total number of losses the team had each of the last three seasons.
They now sit in third place in the NFC East, 3 1/2 games behind the division-leading Washington Commanders.
Rush has found some success as a fill-in starter for the Cowboys, though, the 30-year-old hasn't been forced into the starting role since 2022.
In six career starts for Dallas, he's gone 5-1 with 1,281 passing yards with seven touchdowns, four interceptions and an 83.6 rating.
There is some good news for the Cowboys, though, as star defensive end Micah Parsons is likely to return this Sunday after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain.
Stumbling Saints fire head coach Allen
The New Orleans Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen on Monday, one day after the team’s losing streak reached seven games with a 23-22 defeat to the lowly Carolina Panthers.
New Orleans got off to an unexpected strong start to the 2024 season by outscoring its first two opponents 91-29 in a pair of victories.
The Saints lost their next two games by just a combined five points, but then it really started to unravel for the team.
New Orleans’ next four defeats all came by 13 points or more, and on Sunday, the Panthers pulled out a 23-22 win over the Saints after Carolina entered the meeting with a 1-7 record.
Allen was promoted from New Orleans' defensive coordinator to head coach after the 2021 season, and the Saints posted an 18-25 record under him with no play-off appearances.
The Saints (2-7) are expected to name special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi as interim head coach ahead of their Week 10 visit from the NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons (6-3).
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