Jalen Hurts’ status still uncertain for Giants-Eagles Week 18 clash

Sunday’s game against the New York Giants could mean the difference between the No. 1 seed and the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs for the Philadelphia Eagles. There is, though, no guarantee that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will return Sunday after missing the last two Eagles’ games — both losses — with a shoulder injury.

Asked by WIP-FM if the importance of the Giants game would have any bearing on whether Hurts plays, (Eagles coach Nick) Sirianni said Tuesday, “If Jalen’s ready to play health-wise, then we’ll play him. And I think especially seeing yesterday Damar [Hamlin] and everything, we’ve got to think of our player safety first and foremost every single time regardless of the circumstances of ‘this is a must-win’ or ‘this has to happen here.’”

“I know Jalen wants to get back,” Sirianni said Monday. “That’s been his message to me ever since this happened. It’s hard to keep him down because of how tough he is, the kind of competitor he is. He wants to go. ... Obviously, he’s disappointed like we’re all disappointed walking out of that stadium. Jalen is an ultimate competitor.”

Sirianni also said this on Monday:

“First and foremost, we’re always going to want him to be healthy enough to not put himself at danger. That’s first and foremost,” Sirianni said, “but also so that he can perform at a high level. When you’re talking about throwing the football and an injured shoulder, it’s a little different than other injuries. He’s got to be able to throw the ball down the field. He’s got to be able to throw it accurately. He’s got to be able to throw it with velocity, so that he can be effective as a quarterback.”

As for the Giants, we will find out as the week goes along how coach Brian Daboll plans to approach playing time for many of the team’s key players.