Odds Hint at Jalen Hurts Return and Nick Sirianni's Take on Gardner Minshew?
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Five days before the Eagles played the Cowboys, oddsmakers had already installed the Cowboys as a 1-point favorite over Philly that rose several points before Jalen Hurts was ruled our 48 hours before the two teams kicked off in AT&T Stadium on Saturday.
Speculation was that they knew something about Hurts’ sprained shoulder, an injury that sidelined him for the first time this year.
This week, the Eagles opened on Monday as a 6.5-point favorite against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Maybe the oddsmakers know something more about Hurts and his return than Nick Sirianni wanted to let on when he spoke on Monday.
It is early in the week and the Eagles coach said it is a one-day-at-a-time situation with Hurts.
His availability is a fluid situation, to be sure.
If Hurts can’t play, though, it will be a second straight start for Gardner Minshew.
Minshew played reasonably well against the Cowboys, despite the 40-34 loss.
He threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a pair of interceptions, though Quez Watkins certainly bears some responsibility for not competing hard enough for the ball and fumbling an exchange to Boston Scott.
“Just trying to win,” said Minshew told reporters after the loss. “Anytime you step out there, that’s all it is. There are tons of guys who put in a ton of effort, a ton of work into this team, into this season, and I don’t want to let them down. I’ll do everything I can for them to win and to get that first seed and the NFC East.”
Turnovers kill, though, and they certainly did the Eagles vs. Dallas.
“It’s all on us,” WR A.J. Brown told reporters following the defeat that put the Eagles at 13-2. “This game, whatever you do, we’re the only ones that can stop ourselves, regardless of who’s back there at quarterback. We got faith in Minshew to get the job done.”
Sirianni doubled down on Minshew during his Monday afternoon press conference.
“I thought that Gardner did a really nice job,” said the coach. “I think he'll want a couple plays back. We're going to want a couple plays back as what we called, and a couple plays back of the positions we put guys in. Every player is going to want a couple plays they are going to want back.”
Sirianni said and Minshew texted back and forth on Christmas Day, with the coach pointing out corrections and highlighting his good plays.
“The plays that I was texting him that I thought were really good far outweighed the ones that I was giving him corrections on, so I thought he played well not having played in a year and coming in there,” said Sirianni. “But we kind of expected that out of Gardner because we have so much confidence in him, and we know what type of player he is.”
They may need to learn more on Sunday.
Unless Hurts returns, perhaps like the oddsmakers might believe he will.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
