Jalen Hurts is still in the NFL's concussion protocol, which makes it even more unlikely that he'll play Sunday against the Cowboys, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed.
"Yeah, he's still in the protocol," Sirianni said at the top of his Friday press conference at the NovaCare Complex. "It's gonna be tough for him to make it this week."
So it looks like it will be Kenny Pickett's start at quarterback.
Hurts didn't practice on Thursday coming back from Christmas. Pickett, though he's listed with a rib injury, practiced in full and with the first team.
"I think he's had a nice week of practice," Sirianni said of Pickett. "He's done a nice job. We've had some good practices and walkthroughs this week."
Hurts exited last week's loss at Washington in the first quarter after he took off on a run and then took a hit to the head as he fell forward to the grass. The starting QB was slow to get up and tried to shake off concern, but officials and sideline spotters forced him off the field for a concussion evaluation. He didn't return.
Pickett entered and finished the drive with a short touchdown pass to A.J. Brown, but followed up with an interception on the next Eagles possession that running Saquon Barkley later balanced out with a 68-yard touchdown run before the first quarter was up.
For the next three quarters after, the Eagles struggled to move the ball while the Commanders clawed their way back.
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Picket went 14-for-24 passing for 143 yards on the day, and got sacked three times in a second half where the only points the Eagles could put on the board were through field goals.
Pickett, who came in cold, said postgame that he was constantly talking between drives with top receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to make adjustments and get up to speed as much as he could, but the process ultimately hit a wall.
Still, Pickett's teammates commended his effort, and there's optimism that – if this is his start – the offense will be able to move smoother with him now that he is getting reps in with the first-stringers.
"Anytime you get to work our plays against the defense that you're playing against, with the guys that you're gonna be going with, that helps you," Sirianni said. "So that's our philosophy in practice, everyone's philosophy in practice…It was a good week of practice."
Smith, and defensive backs Darius Slay and Reed Blankenship each suffered concussions earlier in the season and each missed a game because of it while they took the steps to get cleared out of the league's protocol and return to play guidelines.
Hurts appears to be on a similar timeline, though there is a slight chance he could be cleared before Sunday, but that would come with the caveat of him having no or minimal practice reps this week.
Again, at this point, this late into the week, Hurts looks highly unlikely to play.
"Not gonna get too much into that," Sirianni said of Hurts' chances of getting cleared. "He's still in the protocol."
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