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Heading into Week 18, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to look very different from the juggernaut that won 13 of their last 16 games heading into the regular season finale.
For one thing, Saquon Barkley will not be on the field, as his pursuit of the single-season rushing has officially been ended by Nick Sirianni and the Eagles brass in the pursuit of a healthy rushing attack come Week 19. Many other key players will be held out of action, too, with 15 Eagles missing practice on Friday due to “rest” alone, including many starters on both sides of the ball.
And yet, as if it wasn't obvious, one player who definitely won't be on the field and probably won't even be on the sideline for the regular season finale is Jalen Hurts, who is set to miss the game as he continues to work through concussion protocol.
Now granted, would Hurts have played in Week 18 even if he was healthy? No. If Barkley wasn't going to play in Week 18, then Hurts wasn't going to either. Still, the news is notable because Kenny Pickett is on the injury report, too, having been kicked out of Week 17 after aggravating his rib injury. After taking the field against the Commanders despite his injury, could Pickett end up on the bench for what may be his final chance to start for his childhood team this season? It's hard to say, but if Pickett can't go, the Eagles at least have a plan for what to do moving forward, as they had to deal with a similar dilemma the week before.
Nick Sirianni is confident in all of the Eagles QBs heading into Week 18
So, if Pickett and Hurts are unable to go in Week 18 against the Giants, are the Eagles ready for a 1-2 punch of Tanner McKee and Ian Book as their QB options?
Discussing that very prospect in his final media session before Week 18, Sirianni told reporters that he's ready for whatever comes, as all of his quarterbacks have been putting in the work to prepare for this moment.
“I want to continue to get better each and every day. That’s been our mission this entire week for guys that are going to be playing in this game and guys that aren’t going to be playing in this game. How do we progress? How do we get better?” Sirianni asked reporters.
“So we’re going through the week just like we would every other week, and I expect guys to go out there and perform and play to the standard that we have set here.”
Would the Eagles be in a bad way if Book has to play in Week 18? No, considering he's only been on the team for a little over a week now and wasn't even in the NFL over the past few months, that would be a dire outcome indeed. But if McKee plays the entire game? Goodness, that might actually make the game more interesting, as he played incredibly well in Week 17 in limited action and has been a fan favorite since the preseason in 2023. If McKee plays well in Week 18, who knows? Maybe Pickett won't be the only QB who Howie Roseman gets calls about during the draft.
