One of the star quarterbacks will be on the field for the Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday. Dallas QB Dak Prescott has a hamstring injury, and he won’t play. Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts may or may not have an ankle injury, and he will play.
The Jacksonville Jaguars appeared to hurt Hurts’ ankle on a sack in the Eagles’ 28-23 victory last week. Hurts finished the game, but he was listed as a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, with “rest” cited as the reason.
That’s also what Hurts said at his press conference after practice. The former Alabama QB didn’t seem happy about it either. “I just do what I’m told,” Hurts said. On Friday, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Hurts had an ankle injury. Or maybe he didn’t.
When asked about a “load-management” day for Hurts – an oddity for the quarterback – Sirianni said: “He was dealing with – it was on the injury report — dealing with the ankle. And, you know, making sure we’re cautious with everything.” But that wasn’t on the injury report. A member of the Eagles public-relations staff interjected to point that out. “It was rest,” Sirianni then said. “Yeah, sorry. I thought you were talking about something else.”
So the defense of the 3-5 Cowboys will face Jalen Hurts. The defense of the 6-2 Eagles will face Cooper Rush. Rush completed 13-of-25 passes for 115 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in a 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons last week after Prescott got hurt during the game. Rush debuted with Dallas in 2017 and will make his seventh NFL regular-season start on Sunday. Rush has a 5-1 record as a starter, with the lone loss coming to Philadelphia on Oct. 16, 2022. Hurts threw two touchdown passes in the Eagles’ 26-17 victory.
That’s one of Hurts’ three victories against the Cowboys. He also has three losses. “They’ve got really good talent,” Hurts said. “They’ve had really good talent over the years, competing against them. I think they’ve got great DBs. And, obviously, up front, the way they rush the passer, they do that really well. Always have done that really well. And so we’ve just got to come in ready, keyed in on our assignments, and expecting a tough one.”
Philadelphia went into its Week 5 bye with a 2-2 record but has come out with four straight victories. “Well, I like to win,” Hurts said of the Eagles’ improvement. “It’s not a specific formula for it. That’s what I love. That’s what I enjoy. I know my teammates enjoy the same thing. But there’s a process to that. We talk about being multiple, being able to do different things, being able to attack different people in different ways. And that takes being able to do it all, so it’s a matter of when you do those things and really being good in those things.
“You’ve heard me talk about a thousand kicks, and that goes to the reps, the number of reps you put into a lot of different things, so it’s the same old spiel in terms of building a rapport, getting in sync because it’s a challenge when things change often. But we just want to continue to keep building off of where we are and where we’re at now.”
The Eagles and Cowboys will square off at 3:25 p.m. Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Hurts’ ankle might be put to the test this week because after Sunday’s NFC East game, the Eagles face another division rival, the Washington Commanders, at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. “I think we’re just kind of taking it day-by-day,” Hurts said about playing two games in five days. “We want to try and assess it each day as it comes.”
