PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles have more to choose from than just their starting quarterback when they take on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Although it’s not official, Gardner Minshew is likely to get the second start over Jalen Hurtz, who is nursing a shoulder sprain. Harts practiced on a limited basis Thursday, his first practice since injuring his shoulder on Dec. 18 against the Bears.
He didn’t take part in ball-guarding drills when the coaches put on boxing gloves and tried to hit the ball.
The Eagles practice again on Friday and Hurts could do more. At the very least, the Saints will have to prepare for both him and Minshew.
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Rest is the best remedy for Hertz’s shoulder pain. Hurtz, meanwhile, is coming off an MVP season, and the Eagles still need to win out to clinch both the NFC East division title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and a first-round bye.
To that end, some punters felt the Eagles were going to rest Herts.
Tight end Dallas Goedert said, “No!” Asked if he knew who the starting quarterback was, he said, “I tried to get away from Jalen a little bit, but he didn’t say much. He sat at his statue with a weird look on his face, pursed his lips. He went out and nodded.
I said, “I don’t know what that means, J.” So we’ll see. It’s still up in the air, but whoever it is, I like our odds.”
Miles Sanders: “It was good to see Jalen back on the court. He still has to go with his body. When he’s ready, we’ll be ready. But the most important thing is rest. Stay as healthy as possible.”
In this case, five weeks of rest from the time of the injury to the first game of the playoffs is more than two.
Minshew threw for 355 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the Eagles’ 40-34 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday. It was his first start since last year’s regular season finale.
“I thought Gardner had a great game,” Goedert said. “Shooting, I think his completion percentage was good, his fielding was good. We’ve got to limit some turnovers. I think with another game under his belt, it’s going to be an even bigger cleanup.”
Goedert’s statement sounded like Minshew would have “one more game under him.” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was not scheduled to meet with the media on Thursday, but will be on Friday.
That uncertainty also extends to right tackle, with Lane Johnson expected to miss the rest of the season with a torn abdominal muscle. Johnson reportedly decided to delay the surgery to allow him to play in the playoffs.
Until then, the Eagles had to replace a Pro Bowl right tackle who hadn’t allowed a sack in more than 2 years and set an NFL record with nearly 1,000 interceptions since his last sack.
The Eagles have several options, but Jack Driscoll appears to be Johnson’s replacement. The Eagles could use Andre Dillard at right tackle, or even put Dillard on the left side and move Jordan Mailata to right tackle.
Driscoll, a 2020 fourth-round pick of the Eagles, has played both right and left tackle throughout his career. Earlier this season, he started at left tackle in place of Mailata, who missed games with a shoulder injury. Dillard was on injured reserve at the time.
But Dillard has always played left field. The Eagles moved Mailata to right for one game last season, while Dillard started in left. During that time, Johnson missed three games to deal with mental illness.
Sanders says Johnson is a “big loss,” but has faith in Driscoll.
“We put a lot of trust in Jack,” Sanders said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in Jack, he’s going to get the job done.”
As for Sanders, he did not practice Wednesday due to a knee injury, but practiced in limited time Thursday. He said he hopes to play against the Saints. Sanders has 1,175 yards rushing this season.
“It wasn’t really a big deal,” Sanders said. “They’re just being careful and giving me some rest. It’s late in the season, so nothing to worry about.”
Contact Martin Frank at [email protected] Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
