Larry Henry Jr
For the first time since January 8, Gardner Minshew will start a competitive NFL game.
Minshew will start for the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas Eve against the Dallas Cowboys, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed Thursday in his final pre-game press conference. Starting quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a sprained shoulder in the Eagles 25-20 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, which will rule him out of action at AT&T Stadium this weekend.
“Jalen did everything he could to get his body ready to go and at the end of the day, he’s not going to be able to do it,” Sirianni said. “He tried like crazy. I know he still wants to go. Jalen Hurts is the toughest player I’ve ever been around.
“Gardner will be our guy and Gardner will be ready,” Sirianni added. “Gardner worked his butt off for this opportunity against a really good football team. Had a great practice yesterday, I think you guys have all heard that, how good a practice he had yesterday, a lot of energy out there. He’s ready to go.”
Minshew last started for the Eagles in a 51-26 loss to the Cowboys in Week 18 of the 2021 season, a game which the Eagles rested plenty of their starters ahead of the NFL Playoffs. The former Jacksonville Jaguar draft pick threw for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat, albeit against the Dallas starters.
Minshew also started in Hurts’ absence in Week 13 of last season, totaling 242 passing yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-25 passing for the Eagles in a 33-18 victory over the New York Jets. It was his first start for the Eagles following his arrival at the franchise. Minshew has totaled over 6,000 yards in his NFL career, throwing 41 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions.
“He’s what you want out of your backup quarterback, to be ready with limited reps,” Sirianni said about Minshew earlier in the week. “Now, we’re able to do things differently here than I think most places I’ve been. We take a lot of time, and we have a lot of developmental reps.
“Like I told you guys, some of the developmental periods that we stuck with from last year that we continue to have is like, hey, do we want to cut this, no, [QB] Gardner Minshew rule,” he added. “Gardner wasn’t here in the last training camp, right, two years ago training camp, and we gave him those developmental periods and he developed in the offense. We already knew he was a great player, but he developed in the offense so if his number got called, he would be ready to play, and he went out there and played. But it’s Gardner first and foremost, his ability to be able to do a lot without reps because of just how high his football IQ is.”
The Cowboys come into the Week 16 contest off the back of a shocking 40-33 overtime loss at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. A victory for the Eagles will officially clinch them the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the NFC East title outright.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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