Jalen Hurts Out vs. Cowboys, Gardner Minshew Will Step In

Nick Sirianni ruled out the team's MVP candidate, and it will be Minshew who will try to push the Eagles to the NFC East title and No. 1 seed in the playoffs by beating Dallas

PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Hurts’ MVP road has taken a detour to the sidelines with a sprained throwing shoulder.

The Eagles quarterback won’t play on Saturday when the team plays in Dallas against the Cowboys. Hurts is expected to make the trip, but it will be Gardner Minshew who sees the field.

“Jalen did everything he possibly could to get his body ready to go but at the end of the day he’s not going to be able to do it,” said head coach Nick Sirianni on Thursday morning. “He tried like crazy, and I know he still wants to go.”

Minshew will make his first start since last year’s meaningless regular-season finale against the Cowboys. This will be his third start for the Eagles. He went 1-1 last year and threw four touchdowns with only one interception.

He is scheduled to talk at his locker following Thursday’s practice.

“Gardner will be our guy and Gardner will be ready,” said Sirianni. “Gardner worked his butt off for this opportunity against a really good football team and had a great practice (Wednesday), a lot of energy out there and he’s ready to go.”

At 13-1, the Eagles have put themselves in a position to wrap up the NFC East and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with a win over the Cowboys. They only have to win one more game to do it or Dallas and Minnesota would have to lose at least one of their final three games for the clinch to happen.

Sirianni didn’t want to reveal whether or not Hurts would be available for next week’s game against the New Orleans Saints, though the coach spent several minutes talking about Hurts’ toughness.

Hurts' injury isn't considered to be a long-term issue, but rest and treatment are the best courses of action at the moment.

Sirianni said he talked to his brother, Mike, Wednesday night and Mike marveled at how Hurts was able to play the fourth quarter after spraining his shoulder late in the third quarter of Sunday’s 25-20 win over the Chicago Bears.

Hurts completed 7-of-10 passes for 110 yards, including a 68-yard throw to A.J. Brown that set up the game-winning touchdown, while running for a touchdown and a first down on fourth down.

“(Mike Sirianni) said, ‘How did he throw any passes after that?’” said Sirianni. “I go because he’s the toughest son of a gun that I’ve ever been around and for him to go out there and do what he did after he had that sprained shoulder was really truly remarkable that he was able to go and play, not just play, but play really well.

“He's so tough, but we just felt like it’s the best thing that he doesn’t play this week. His body’s just not there yet.”

Sirianni said Hurts handled the news that he would not play about as you would expect – with disappointment.

“We have to do what’s best as an organization to put him in a safe spot because he’d play through anything,” said the coach. “He showed that in that fourth quarter against Chicago. He did play through it.

“Those are hard conversations you have to have sometimes.”

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