Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni Considers Resting Key Players in Week 18 vs. New York Giants
PHILADELPHIA – DeVonta Smith showed up at the Philadelphia Eagles facility on New Year’s Day Monday still using crutches to get around and with his right foot encased in the same hard-shell walking boot he wore after their 35-31 loss to the Arizona Cardinals a day earlier.
It’s a long shot he plays on Sunday when the Eagles take on the New York Giants in the regular-season finale on the terrible turf at MetLife Stadium. It would be the first game Smith would miss since being drafted, a string of 50 straight games.
The receiver may not be the only one who takes a seat.
DeVonta Smith suffered an ankle sprain late in the Philadelphia Eagles' New Year's Eve loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
USA Today
The Dallas Cowboys are in the driver’s seat to win the NFC East title and prevent the Eagles from ending the 18-year drought without a repeat winner in that division. All they have to do is beat the Washington Commanders.
Even a Cowboys team that struggles to win away from home, with a 3-5 record, losing to the four-win Commanders who will probably fire head coach Ron Rivera at the end of the season is probably a longshot.
That means the Eagles will be the No. 5 seed and head to Tampa Bay to play the Buccaneers if the Bucs beat the two-win Carolina Panthers on their finale.
Given that, Sirianni said on Monday that there is consideration for not playing some key players, maybe even all the starters.
“Obviously, we try to think through everything at all times,” he said. “We’re going to do whatever we need to do to win this game, but that’s still a consideration because we think through all those different things.
“We understand we are at the mercy of another team to win the division, all those different things, but you can’t control that (Cowboys-Commanders) game. There are so many different things you can’t control in there, so you have to do what you have to do to win this game.”
There may be a bit of scoreboard-watching since both games are scheduled to kick off at 4:25 p.m ET. If the Cowboys go up big early, maybe Sirianni will begin pulling his starters. Or maybe he chooses a handful of players to not play a snap.
Sitting key players could serve as a bye week they would have had if they had taken care of business when they were 10-1.
Sirianni has to be mindful of something else, though.
Losers of four of their last five games, Sirianni may want to try to find some momentum heading into the team’s third straight postseason appearance. That could also backfire should the Giants find a way to do what the Cardinals did and tag them with another defeat.
“We have to get out of the rut we’re in,” said the coach. “I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no (to who plays and who doesn’t), I’m saying to you everything’s discussed. There are some unknowns about the game with Dallas and Washington and we have to play and coach good football, too, to be able to go into the playoffs.
“Not that I’m thinking that far into it, but to not go into the playoffs, not in a run. Everything is on the table. We’ll think through everything on that. We’re preparing to play the Giants and that’s been our big conversation so far later this (Monday) evening. (Tuesday) we’ll discuss more about who’s playing, who’s up, who’s down, so we’ll see.”
