Good News on the Injury Front; Nick Sirianni Remains Iffy for Sunday

The Eagles head coach remained in quarantine Friday but hopes to get the all-clear by Sunday.

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles will have every active player on their 53-man roster (barring a late COVID-19 positive test) for Sunday's game against the New York Giants but the status is still up in the air when it comes to head coach Nick Sirianni.

Sirianni tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday and has been quarantined at a local hotel in the hopes of getting cleared to coach against the Giants. If Sirianni is unable to fulfill his duties, passing game coordinator Kevin Patullo will handle game-management duties in his stead and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen will call plays.

Kevin Patullo with Jason Kelce #Eagles pic.twitter.com/mEf0u0ua4h

— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) December 24, 2021

On the field, the Eagles will have running back Miles Sanders (quad) and left tackle Jordan Mailata (ankle) despite the fact that neither player practiced during a short week after Tuesday's 27-17 win over the Washington Football Team.

Left guard Landon Dickerson is also expected to play Sunday after being activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list. The rookie missed the contest against the WFT and was replaced by Sua Opeta.

Sirianni noted that the team was managing both Sanders and Mailata to get them both on the field for game day as the Eagles start a final three-game run in which they hope to outlast teams like San Francisco, Minnesota, and New Orleans for one of the final two playoff spots in the NFC.

MORE: Strange Times: Jalen Hurts a Pro Bowl Alternate, Fletcher Cox's Run Ends

Mailata himself had already ended any doubt on his status earlier when speaking with reporters.

“Of course, mate,” the Australian star smiled when asked if he was playing. “Ridiculous question.

"... Just wanted to stay on top of [the ankle] and do some maintenance on it and rest. I think it was important that I got together with the medical staff and figured out an action plan to move forward. They saw that this was the best way and so we did it and we’re still doing it. All I know is I’ll be ready for Sunday.”

Sirianni, meanwhile, first spoke virtually from his quarantined hotel room on Wednesday, the day he tested positive for COVID-19 and two days seemed to make a world of difference.

"I feel great. Just waiting for my test to come back and get good news hopefully," Sirianni said. "As far as everything goes virtually (during the week), it went really well. No problems here.

"I was just doing everything I do from my hotel room. Now, I need to probably go out and get a walk a little bit because I've been in this hotel room for three days, but I've been watching a lot of tape and feel good about where we're at right now."

"I'm ready to go," the coach added later. "If [I'm cleared] a minute before the game I'll be there. If it's two days before the game I'll be there so when they tell me I'm ready to go, I'll be ready to go prepared the same way if I was in the building the whole week."

If the all-clear isn't sounded, however, Sirianni feels comfortable that Patullo can handle the expanded game-day role.

"It's just the consistency of Kevin. I'm just really glass he's here," Sirianni said. "If I'm not able to be there with the game-management stuff he'll do a great job."

Patullo noted things haven't changed all that much from his perspective.

"This week has been pretty much the same as far as every day, the duties we have with Nick and with [offensive coordinator] Shane [Steichen] and all the meetings we have," Patullo noted. "... as far as the week goes, it's been very similar. As far as on game day if I am the head coach I feel I am similar to Nick in a lot of ways." 

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.