Jalen Hurts' Recovery 'Trending Upward,' Eagles Preparing For Washington Starters Despite COVID-19 Concerns
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles are coming back from their bye week to get ready for a big matchup against Washington on Sunday. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni says QB Jalen Hurts is "trending upward" as he recovers from an ankle injury.
Hurts' status for this week against The Washington Football Team remains undetermined but Sirianni is "hopeful" he will play.
"We're going to do what we need to do and walk through today how we divvy up the reps like last walkthrough they both got reps, do the same thing today and we'll see how everything goes tomorrow," Sirianni said.
The Birds are tied with the Washington Football team at 6-7, but Washington currently holds the last playoff spot in the NFC.
So, Sunday's game could have playoff implications.
COVID-19 has been an issue across the NFL this week and Washington has a number of players on the COVID reserve list.
"We're very aware obviously of everything that's going on and we're taking precaution of what we're doing. I'm not going to get into everything that we've done that's different, but we're taking precautions to make sure that we have a competitive advantage over other teams," Sirianni said.
Sirianni says it's not clear which players are vaccinated, but the unvaccinated players have to wait longer to determine if they will be eligible to play. Not knowing who will be eligible to play on Sunday makes it a little more difficult to prepare, but the Eagles are prepping as if everyone will play.
The last thing he wants is to "get bit" by not doing homework on a player.
"Just like with [Washington WR Terry] McLaurin. You've got to prepare for McLaurin to play," Sirianni said. "I won't get into the COVID stuff, but you have to prepare for McLaurin to play with him being in the protocol. And you've got to do the same thing with guys that have the COVID issues, as well, because you just don't want to – again, I talk about not leaving any stone unturned. You don't want to be like, 'All right, McLaurin is not playing.' You don't do the homework on him and then you get bit by it."
