The Philadelphia Eagles have now officially ruled out running back Miles Sanders for their upcoming Week 18 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.

Sanders has been out of action as of late due to a hand injury suffered in the Eagles’ 34-10 win over the New York Giants in Week 16. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport later noted that Sanders broke a bone in his hand during the contest.

As expected, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni opted to rule out Sanders for the Week 17 road matchup against the Washington Football Team, especially as the versatile running back did not feature in any of the team's scheduled practice sessions ahead of the game. In his place, Boston Scott and Jordan Howard led the Eagles rush offense with a combined 73 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Sanders once again did not take part in any of the Eagles’ trio of practices ahead of their upcoming NFC East encounter with the Cowboys, which prompted the team to sideline him for Week 18.

Sirianni did note earlier in the week that he is optimistic that Sanders will be available for the Eagles’ playoff opener next week.

“Hopefully, he will be up the following week,” Sirianni said. “That’s why with Miles, it’s easy to talk about the playoffs, because you didn’t put him on IR because you wanted to get him back in this three-week span. So hopefully – I know that he’s progressing well. Not putting a timetable on him, but you guys know, we’re hopeful we can get him back for the opening round of the playoffs.”

Scott and Howard are expected to once again lead the Eagles rush offense in Sanders’ absence this week.

The Eagles do not have much to play for in Week 18, as they have already clinched a wild-card spot in the NFC. Still, they could secure a 10-win campaign for the first time in four seasons.