Eagles Week 16 injury report: Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni provide updates

“I don’t put anything past Jalen Hurts as far as his mental and physical toughness. So, there’s a chance that he could play this week”. Those were the words of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni on Tuesday.

Now, there is a lot to digest there. The most obvious question that needs to be answered is whether or not it’s even wise for Philly to allow him to give it a shot. Sure, there’s the matter of Jalen’s MVP candidacy. Knowing what we know about Nick, giving his quarterback every opportunity to win the award is very important to him, but the Birds have larger goals. To achieve them, they’d obviously need their QB1 available and healthy. It appears that, after hearing that Jalen has a shoulder injury, we seem to be in good shape on that front.

Here are some updates on Jalen Hurts’ injury, straight from the source.

Jalen Hurts’ injury won’t force him to miss the postseason. After hearing early on Monday that he may have suffered a broken collarbone, that was some of the best news that we had heard all week, but in an unexpected turn of events, there’s now a discussion involving the possibility that we could see him back in the lineup before the two-week timetable that we were originally given.

Nick Sirianni suggests that he and his coaches are preparing as if he can go, while they’re also preparing for the possibility of Gardner Minshew gaining the green light. Then again, those could be Jedi mind tricks to avoid showing their hand and keep the Cowboys guessing.

Jalen Hurts spoke with the media as well. He stated he was “feeling fine” and that he knew there was an issue when the injury first occurred. He also said he’s “very aware of his body” and capable of overcoming any physical challenges. Here’s a quote.

"It’s a week where we’re keeping everything business as usual. I know we’re playing a really good team, a really good opponent. We’re doing everything we can on a short week to be at full health… There’s definitely a chance (that I can play on Saturday). (I’m) taking it day by day though. Everyone knows that I’m dealing with something. That’s pretty public. It’s out there. I’m not really one to talk about myself. Obviously, being the quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, you can’t run from that, but I’m taking everything one day at a time…"

Jalen was injured during the third quarter of Week 15’s game versus the Chicago Bears. He went on to complete six of nine passes in the fourth quarter. While some might state that is evidence that he could play versus the Dallas Cowboys if needed, there’s the added component of knowing his injury felt much worse on Monday than it did on Sunday afternoon.

The Cowboys’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars has changed things in terms of the race for the NFC East’s crown. Christmas Eve’s game isn’t as important as it was before Sunday. No one wants to see a knockout shot of Jalen from any member of the Cowboys, so with that being said, Gardner Minshew is a more than capable backup. The Eagles are capable of winning with him.

The best course of action is to give Jalen’s shoulder time to heal. If Philadelphia didn’t play Dallas Goedert versus Chicago, it’s extremely hard to envision scenarios in which the Eagles would risk further injury to Jalen Hurts by allowing him to play when there are more important games to play down the line.

More Eagles injury updates: Dallas Goedert returns.

Speaking of Dallas Goedert, we have good news to report. He’s been activated from the Eagles’ injured reserve to their 53-man roster. He will start on Sunday.

With the game being played on Saturday, Tuesday is being treated like Wednesday. That means Philly released their first injury report a day early.

Zach Pascal has a concussion. He was obviously listed as a non-participant for that reason. Jalen Hurts (shoulder), Gardner Minshew (personal), and K’Von Wallace (hip) were listed as non-participants as well.

Tyree Jackson was limited with a knee issue. Safety Reed Blankenship is dealing with a knee issue as well, but he was a full participant as well. Fingers are crossed this way. It will be nice to see all hands on deck when Week 16’s game arrives.