Jalen Hurts is Questionable, but Will Sunday's Game vs. Washington be Played?

Here's more of what the Eagles head coach had to say about his QB situation and the dire Omicron variant situation of the WFT

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles quarterback question has swirled like a hot dog wrapper caught up in a crosswind at Lincoln Financial Field.

Jalen Hurts or Gardner Minshew?

Hurts was a full-go during Friday’s practice and did well in a pre-practice workout the training staff put him through.

“He’s trending in the right direction and we’re hopeful,” said head coach Nick Sirianni, who added that Hurts took most of Friday’s reps.

“Gardner had some things in there but (Hurts) had a lot of the reps (Friday), and he looked good in a workout he did beforehand,” Sirianni added. “He took a lot of the reps (Friday).”

Hurts had been questionable in the team’s previous two practices this week and did not look particularly mobile in Thursday’s practice. It was more of the same from Hurts during Friday’s practice at the Linc, with him walking straight ahead when his teammates were doing side-to-side drills

The Eagles’ QB will be listed as questionable when the Washington Football Team pays a visit to Philadelphia on Sunday (1 p.m./FOX).

Make that if the WFT comes on Sunday.

The situation is dire enough that head coach Ron Rivera is reportedly lobbying the NFL to postpone his team’s trip to perhaps Tuesday. The NFL is currently in discussion about what to do with the Raiders-Browns game scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Cleveland has been hit hard by the Omicron variant.

Friday is a travel day for Las Vegas, but as the players were supposed to board buses to the airport, they were told to stand down, per a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The variant has landed 21 WFT players on the virus list, making Washington's quarterback question even trickier than the Eagles'.

Kyle Allen, Kyle Shurmur, or Garrett Gilbert?

Rivera’s starting quarterback, Taylor Heinicke, was placed on the virus list on Friday, joining Allen. There is a chance that Allen can test negatively and return. The WFT covered its tracks, though, and signed Gilbert off the street.

Gilbert has played just seven games with only one start since entering the league as a sixth-round pick of the then-St. Louis Rams in 2014.

Sirianni said he has not been in any discussion with NFL officials about the possibility of postponing the game.

“No, they tell us where to play and when to play and we’ll play there,” he said Friday afternoon. “I haven’t heard anything. We plan on playing on Sunday at 1 o’clock.”

The Eagles’ challenges are two-fold if the game is indeed held on Sunday.

One, not overlooking what will be a depleted WFT and figuring out the available personnel’s strengths and weaknesses.

“I think (the Eagles’ video department) has tape of me at Mount Union in 2003,” said Sirianni. “Our video department has everything of what we need to see. You always want to prepare obviously for the scheme that you’re playing against, but then obviously the players you’re playing against. It’s always about the players and their talents and what they do, so obviously we’ve done a lot of homework of getting that information.”

Two is determining if it will be Hurts or Minshew that will start.

“Obviously the sooner you know the better, but like I said, I feel pretty confident and feel really good about where he’s at right now, but the sooner you know the better, but that’s not always realistic,” said Sirianni.

“Sometimes you have to wait and wait it out. Sometimes you don’t have that liberty and you’re at the liberty of the ankle and the liberty of the player and how he feels and what the trainers and doctors and strength staff are telling you, too.

“Again, I feel hopeful with where Jalen is and the way he practiced and the way he worked out (Friday) so I’m excited about where we’re at.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.