As the Eagles began their week of preparation for the Saints, quarterback Jalen Hurts was listed as a non-participant on the first injury report of the week.
While the Eagles held a demonstration on Wednesday, the injury report is an estimate of availability in a typical practice.
Not a great sign for his availability this Sunday against Santos.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was purposely elusive Wednesday when asked about the Hurts’ availability for the next game. He wants New Orleans to be forced to prepare for two quarterbacks as much as possible. The Eagles did that last week in the buildup to the Cowboys game, until Hurts was finally ruled out two days before kickoff.
Here’s the Eagles’ full injury report for Wednesday:
Did not practice: Jalen Hurts (shoulder), Lane Johnson (groin), Avonte Maddox (toe), Miles Sanders (knee)
Limited: AJ Brown (knee), Jordan Davis (concussion)
Hurts was unable to practice last week before the Cowboys game.
While Sirianni said Hurts is feeling better now than he did last week, he didn’t offer many other details.
“Yes, we’ll see,” Sirianni said of Hurts’ availability this week. “We’ll continue to see how he progresses throughout the week. Does he have a chance? Of course he did, because his body just knows how to heal itself. He’s a freak. We’ll see what happens over the week.”
Hurts, 24, suffered a shoulder sprain (reportedly a SC joint sprain) in the Eagles’ Week 15 victory over the Bears and missed the Cowboys game on Christmas Eve. While the Eagles lost that game 40-34, backup quarterback Gardner Minshew played well and the Eagles managed 422 yards on offense.
The offense’s biggest problem in that game against the Cowboys was turnovers. Minshew threw two picks and the Eagles also lost two fumbles. But other than those crucial misses, the Eagles offense hummed and didn’t punt once.
If the Eagles can win on Sunday afternoon against the Saints, they’ll clinch first place in the NFC and that would give Hurts’ shoulder a few extra weeks to heal. Because the Eagles would not only get a first-round bye in the NFC, but also make Week 18 meaningless for the Eagles’ playoff image.
The big surprise on the injury report was the incision of running back Miles Sanders with a knee injury. Sanders has been a huge part of the Eagles offense this year and has over 1,000 yards. If he can’t play this weekend, the Eagles will have Boston Scott, Kenny Gainwell and Trey Sermon.
Brown’s injury is also news. The injury report wasn’t released until after the Eagles’ performance, but Brown was in the locker room the Wednesday before and spoke to reporters.
We know Johnson and Maddox will miss some time due to the injuries they sustained in Saturday’s loss. Johnson has a torn tendon in his abdomen and plans to skip surgery to get back to the playoffs. Maddox has a toe injury and is out indefinitely.
The Eagles on Wednesday did not start CJ Gardner-Johnson’s practice window. The safety/nickel corner has missed a minimum of four games on IR with a lacerated kidney, but doesn’t look ready to return.
“Just because he is eligible to return doesn’t mean he will, although I know he will want to,” Sirianni said on Monday. “Again, all the guys are going to want it, so we’ll see. That will be something we are just waiting for some results when he does the tests.”
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