© Heather Khalifa/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS Eagles defensive end Josh Sweat suffered a neck injury in the first quarter against the New Orleans Saints.Eagles coach Nick Siriani is keeping tabs on quarterback Jalen Hurts, who missed the last two games with a shoulder injury.
Last week, Hurts returned to training for the first time since his December 18 injury in Chicago. In the portion of practice open to reporters, Hurts threw passes, but Siriani conceded that Gardner Minshew typically makes all shots with Hurts' assigned first-team offense.
Minshew put on an outstanding performance in the team's 10-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. He was sacked six times and completed 18 of 32 passes for 274 yards with a touchdown in the fourth quarter and an interception that the Saints returned for a touchdown.
Eagles won't win without an NFL MVP and "outstanding" Jalen HurtsAfter becoming the first NFL team to qualify for the playoffs, the Eagles have yet to secure the NFC No. 1 Seed and win the NFC East title. All of these bets, including a bye in the first round and home field advantage in the playoffs, will be settled in the regular season finale against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday at 4:25 p.m.
© David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts removes his helmet after the Bears game.Whether Hearts will return for Game of the Week 18 remains to be seen.
Asked by WIP-FM if playing Hearts has anything to do with the importance of the Giants game, Siriani said Tuesday, "If he's ready to play health, we will play. Especially with Damar [Hamlin] Yesterday and all, we have to think about the safety of our players first, whether it's "winning it" or "making it happen here."
"I know Jalen wants to come back," Siriani said Monday. "It's been a message to me since it happened. He's difficult to contain because he's so strong, what an opponent he is. He wants to go... Of course he was disappointed to have left the stadium, which us disappointed everyone. Jalen is the last competitor."
What we learned from the Eagles-Saints: Jalen Hurts may need to play less than 100%Siriani also spoke about defender Josh Sweat, who sustained a neck injury in Sunday's opener and was taken to hospital on a stretcher. He was released from hospital on Sunday afternoon and tweeted that he was "back this season"! Siriani told WIP on Tuesday that player safety is his priority as players would play anything the team allows: "I spoke to Sweat yesterday, he wants to play in that [next] game."
© David Maialetti/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS Eagles quarterback Jalen suffers a loss to the Saints."One day we will have Josh," Siriani said Monday. "I'm really thankful it wasn't that bad there and I know everyone in the stadium was holding their breath because every time the stretcher comes out it's hard to deal with. Josh said, 'Hey, let me go upstairs.' Stand up. "They have to make sure they finish everything. I felt a little more comfortable with what Josh was saying."
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