Philadelphia Eagles

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The Philadelphia Eagles have officially ruled Jalen Hurts as doubtful for Sunday's matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

But according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Hurts has made major progress in returning from his right shoulder injury this week after missing the team's Week 16 loss against the Dallas Cowboys.

Per Tim McManus of ESPN, however, the Eagles plan to rest Hurts against the Saints in what may be a precautionary measure given that progression:

The Eagles could clinch both the NFC East crown and the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs with a win Sunday, along with helping to improve the 2023 first-round pick owed to them by the Saints.

Hurts could still see playing time in the regular season if the Eagles handle business Sunday, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo:

Hurts' injury has stalled a potential MVP season. The 24-year-old has thrown for 3,472 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 67.3 percent of his passes while taking 35 sacks. He's also rushed for 747 yards and 13 scores.

The Eagles are 13-1 in his starts.

With Hurts out, Gardner Minshew will start for the second straight week. He offered a mixed bag against the Cowboys, throwing for 355 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

He's a solid backup option, and the 6-9 Saints are an easier matchup than the Cowboys. It will be up to Minshew to clinch the top overall seed in the NFC, or the Eagles will face a rivalry game against the New York Giants to close out the season with a lot on the line.

On just his third pass of the day, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw a pick-six against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Prescott would not let the early blunder deter him as he powered Dallas to its biggest win of the season.

The 29-year-old threw for 347 yards, three touchdowns and an interception to lead the Cowboys to a thrilling 40-34 victory over their NFC East rivals, who were hoping to clinch a division title on Christmas Eve.

Dallas had trailed 27-17 early in the second half before storming back to hand Philadelphia its second loss of the year. With the win, it is still mathematically viable for the Cowboys to win the NFC East in the final two weeks of the season.

Prescott showed flashes of brilliance on Saturday with dazzling throws that wowed the home fans at AT&T Stadium. His connection with star receiver CeeDee Lamb was clicking all day, as the wideout racked up 10 catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

NFL Twitter heaped praise on Prescott for his heroics in the intense rivalry game:

Saturday's performance was Prescott's first 300-yard game of the 2022 season, and it came at the perfect time. With back-to-back road games to end the season, Dallas will need its signal-caller to be at his absolute best as the playoffs approach.

The Cowboys (11-4) will look to keep the momentum going with they return to action on Thursday Night Football this week to visit the Tennessee Titans (7-8), who have lost their last five games.

In a game where they could have clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles fell to the Dallas Cowboys 40-34 on Saturday at AT&T Stadium to drop to 13-2 on the season.

It was a very winnable game for the Gardner Minshew-led Eagles, but four turnovers, including two interceptions by Minshew, resulted in Philly dropping their second game of the season.

Minshew completed 24-of-40 passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions in the loss. He also fumbled once, as did running back Miles Sanders.

Following the loss, NFL Twitter ripped the Eagles for their string of turnovers, three of which came in the second half:

The Eagles still have a very good chance of locking up the No. 1 seed, especially if Jalen Hurts returns to the lineup next weekend against the New Orleans Saints.

Hurts missed Saturday's game with a shoulder injury. Before the matchup, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported the signal-caller would push to return to the field against the Saints if the Eagles lost to the Cowboys this week.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is "uncertain" for his team's Week 17 game against the New Orleans Saints, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Hurts suffered a shoulder injury during Philadelphia's Week 15 win over the Chicago Bears, which will force him to miss the team's highly anticipated Christmas Eve showdown with the rival Dallas Cowboys.

The SC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder could cause him to miss more time, depending on his recovery and the team's position in the standings.

While the Eagles were firmly in control of the NFC East at the time of the setback, it was still disappointing for Hurts on an individual level since he was at the forefront of the MVP discussion.

He has completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 3,472 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions to go with 747 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.

Philadelphia will turn toward Gardner Minshew II under center while Hurts is out. While he can't replicate the dual-threat impact the starter has on the field, he is a solid backup with starting experience. Minshew went 7-13 as a starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019 and 2020 and also started two games for the 2021 Eagles.

The Eagles also have a number of offensive weapons in A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Miles Sanders to help Minshew move the ball.

The 13-1 squad just needs to win one of its last three games to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is expected to miss Saturday's game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Head coach Nick Sirianni indicated Gardner Minshew will likely be running the offense in Hurts' stead.

The NFL MVP candidate has led the Eagles to a 13-1 record by accounting for 35 touchdowns (22 passing, 13 rushing), 3,472 passing yards and 747 rushing yards.

He's proved to be a long-term solution at quarterback in Philadelphia, which has the No. 2 scoring offense in the NFL.

Hurts has been a full-time starter for the team since taking over for Carson Wentz in December 2020. In two years, the 24-year-old has shown the potential to become one of the game's top superstars for the next decade-plus.

The former Alabama and Oklahoma star went through the vast majority of the season without the threat of potentially missing time as Philadelphia racked up the wins.

Unfortunately, he suffered a sprained right (throwing) shoulder during the third quarter of his team's 25-20 win over the Chicago Bears on Dec. 18 after a tackle from defensive end Trevis Gipson.

He remained in the game and even uncorked a 68-yard pass to A.J. Brown late before running for a touchdown and a two-point conversion.

Hurts finished out the contest, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that he was in danger of missing the Cowboys game. Good news emerged, though, as Hurts' agent, Nicole Lynn, stated that they did not believe this was a long-term injury.

Sirianni offered hope that Hurts could play, however, while noting Minshew was preparing to suit up.

Hurts also said he had a shot.

Minshew is the next man up on the depth chart, and Ian Book sits behind him. The 26-year-old Minshew was the starter for the Jacksonville Jaguars for much of the 2019 and 2020 seasons before joining the Eagles as a backup in 2021. He has completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 6,003 yards, 41 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 30 career games.

The Philadelphia Eagles were so appreciative of the Jacksonville Jaguars' 40-34 overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday that they sent 35 cheesesteaks and 25 large fries to Jags head coach Doug Pederson and his staff.

That news is per John Shipley of Jaguars Report, who spoke with Jacksonville-based Philly's Finest restaurant owner Jeff Harris about the transaction.

"So on Tuesday, we answer the phone that by somebody saying they were from the organization and want to send, want to buy Doug Pederson lunch for beating Cowboys, to celebrate beating the Cowboys," Harris said. "They love Doug Pederson and they love him in Philly so they want to send them a taste of Philadelphia."

Pederson coached the Eagles from 2016 to 2020 and led the franchise to its first-ever Super Bowl victory in Feb. 2018. He and the Eagles parted ways after the 2020 season, and he's in his first year coaching a Jaguars team that has already doubled its win total (three to six) from last season and has three games left.

The Eagles entered last Sunday with a two-game lead over the Cowboys for the NFC East crown, but Philadelphia now needs just one win (or one Dallas loss) in the final three games to clinch the division title after the Jags overcame a 27-10 deficit to earn the upset victory. An Eagles win would also clinch home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs.

Philadelphia can take care of all that itself by beating the host Cowboys on Saturday afternoon.