Eagles HC Nick Sirianni addresses QB prep amid Jalen Hurts, Kenny Pickett injuries

The biggest question opening up the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 17 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys is, "Who will start at quarterback for the Birds?"  Starting quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a concussion in Week 16's loss to the Washington Commanders and was immediately placed in concussion protocol following the game.  Meanwhile, quarterback Kenny Pickett underwent X-rays […]

Kelsey Kramer College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) and quarterback Kenny Pickett (7) take the field for warm ups against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The biggest question opening up the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 17 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys is, "Who will start at quarterback for the Birds?" 

Starting quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a concussion in Week 16's loss to the Washington Commanders and was immediately placed in concussion protocol following the game. 

Meanwhile, quarterback Kenny Pickett underwent X-rays on his ribs after the loss for potential injury. That means the Eagles could be forced to lean on third-string quarterback Tanner McKee. 

At the start of the week, Eagles' head coach Nick Sirianni couldn't confirm who will be available come Sunday but reassured reporters that they have a plan in place. 

"There are different approaches that we take with that. It depends on the skillset of the guys and the different skillsets. Sometimes it’s to give the player the things that he operates well at; sometimes it’s what you’re going against with the defense.

"Just like you would when a wide receiver is out of the game or a defensive back is out of the game, you adjust. This is no different. You adjust. There are a lot of similarities. There are little differences, but there are differences. But it’s just something that you adjust to, and this is the unfortunate part of the NFL. We’ve had a lot of experience doing this with different positions and that includes the quarterback."

That plan comes down to getting the backups, Pickett and McKee, "meaningful" reps, which they have been on top of doing since before the season even started. 

"Now, we try to do as much as we possibly can as coaches, and we kind of thought about this, too, going all the way back to Gardner (Minshew), who wasn’t with us in the pre-season," Sirianni said. "We had to find ways post-practice and pre-practice to get him meaningful reps, and we’ve tried to do the same thing with Kenny and Tanner getting meaningful reps at developmental periods so they have opportunities and chances to rep our plays, not just the scout team plays.

"But a great job by Kenny doing everything he could do to help this team win yesterday. He played tough, made some big plays and made some big throws, and did a lot of good things.

The hope, of course, is that Hurts is available come Sunday, and Sirianni is confident that Hurts will do what he needs to to make that happen.  

"Each and every week is a different scenario," Sirianni said about concussion protocol. "What I’ve seen is Jalen knows how to prepare, knows how to get himself ready. He’s a true pro. I just can’t say enough good things about Jalen. Jalen the player, Jalen the leader, Jalen the person.

"Every week is a little bit different, and I know Jalen does everything he can to get ready for each and every week regardless of the circumstances."

We'll have some more answers on the extent of Hurts' and Pickett's injuries when the team's first injury report is released Wednesday afternoon.