Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ruled out of Dallas game as he recovers from concussion, finger injury, team says
With two days to go until the Eagles' home matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, the mystery of who will take on the field as quarterback has finally been answered. Backup Kenny Pickett will likely get the start as quarterback after the Eagles officially ruled Jalen Hurts out from Sunday's game as he heals from a concussion and left finger injury.
Hours before the team released the practice report and game status roster, Nick Sirianni said on Friday that Jalen Hurts was still in concussion protocol and it was going to be tough to see him playing Sunday.
That followed a news conference Thursday, where Sirianni said he didn't have an update on the status of Hurts, who went down in the first quarter against the Washington Commanders on Sunday. Despite flashing a thumbs-up to a referee he was placed in concussion protocol and out for the rest of the game.
"Not a lot I can comment on that, we'll get you an update after today," Sirianni said Thursday.
Backup Kenny Pickett took over for Hurts against Washington and tossed one touchdown pass and one interception, netting 143 passing yards and completing 14 of 24 throws.
The Birds did not practice on Wednesday, Christmas Day, but revealed in an injury report that if they had, Hurts would not have participated and Pickett would only have light participation due to a rib injury.
Pickett was then a full participant in Thursday's practice. He sounded ready to play when he spoke in the locker room afterward.
"Tested out some different things padding-wise just to make sure I feel good with it for Sunday, but yeah, I feel good," Pickett said.
On the rib injury, he said: "It is what it is, just something I'm going to have to deal with, so yeah, I'll be ready to go for Sunday."
Sirianni was asked directly if he was keeping quiet about the quarterback situation for Sunday for competitive reasons, or if he still needed more information about how the injured QBs were doing before he could make a decision.
"Probably a little bit of both, to be quite honest with you," he said. "When you're in concussion protocol, I have no say in that and Jalen has no say in that. It's completely up to the doctors, as it should be."
The team announced Thursday the signing of quarterback Ian Book, a former Notre Dame star who the Eagles claimed off waivers in the 2022 preseason.
The coach said about Book: "I really liked him, I like the person, liked the player, he's started a game in the NFL ...and played good football for us in the preseason. ... Familiar with a lot of things that are here and we're excited to have him."
Sirianni was asked if signing Book is connected to the current quarterback situation.
"Yeah, you know, again, opportunity to add Ian here this week, and you know, took advantage of that opportunity," he said.
This has been updated with more information on Pickett's practice on Thursday and Sirianni's news conference on Friday.
