Some Concerns About Gardner Minshew's Second Straight Start

The backup will make another start in place of injured Jalen Hurts against a physical, stout defense in New Orleans

PHILADELPHIA - It’s been two years since Gardner Minshew started two straight games.

He lost them both.

Of course, that was with one in a long line of bad teams in Jacksonville.

Barring some sort of New Year’s Day miracle, Jalen Hurts will yield again to Minshew, who will make his second straight start on Sunday when the New Orleans Saints visit (1 p.m./FOX). The backup is playing on a far superior team than the 2020 Jaguars, who went 1-15.

And Minshew’s first start this season was encouraging.

He threw for 355 yards and two touchdowns in a narrow loss to the Cowboys on Christmas Eve. He also threw two interceptions and was credited with a botched handoff exchange to Boston Scott.

Three turnovers from the quarterback won’t get a win on Sunday, no matter how much better the personnel is around him compared to those horrid-roster days in Jacksonville.

It’s been overheard in a few places – at a party, on sports talk radio – that the Saints stink.

They don’t.

READ MORE: Jalen Hurts Doubtful, Gardner Minshew Set for Second Consecutive Start

Yes, they are 6-9, but this is a team with a lot of quality players on both sides of the football, especially on defense.

New Orleans hasn’t given up more than 20 points to an opponent since the Ravens hung 27 on them all the way back on Nov. 7. Their offense hasn’t been up to par in those games and the Saints are 3-3 since Baltimore beat them 27-13.

Plus, they are still playing to win a crummy NFC South.

And something more. 

The Eagles own New Orleans’ first-round draft pick this spring, so perhaps that motivates them, too, though a rallying cry of let’s win this one for GM Mickey Loomis, who dealt the Eagle that first-round pick along with a second-rounder in 2024, seems far-fetched.

“They’re a great defense, man,” said Minshew. “They’re really hot right now, very physical. Their front does a good job stopping the run, you know. And they match up well, they’re physical on the back end. They present a good challenge, one that we’re excited to face.”

Well, the run defense is OK.

The Eagles bludgeoned the Saints on the ground in winning their previous two matchups.

Hurts’ first career start came against them on Dec. 13, 2020, and he ran for 106 yards in a 24-21 win. Miles Sanders had 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns that day and, as a team, the Eagles had 246.

Last year, on Nov. 21, the Eagles ran for 242 yards, with Sanders putting up 94 and Hurts running for 69 yards with three TDs.

In addition to the turnovers, that’s another concern about Minshew. 

He can’t run like Hurts. Not many QBs can, but with Hurts parked on the sidelines again, Sanders wasn’t as effective last week when he ran 21 times against the Cowboys, just three away from his career-high in rushes, but gained just 65 yards for a 3.1 yards per carry average, which was two yards fewer than his season’s average.

Hurts opens things up in the run game for Sanders.

Then there’s the knee issue that Sanders struggled with this week, and he may have to wear a brace. That could limit his touches, so maybe there’s more on the plate of Boston Scott and Kenny Gainwell.

Perhaps even Trey Sermon is active since two of the gameday inactives will be Lane Johnson and Avonte Maddox, both of whom are out and will miss the rest of the regular season at minimum.

Sirianni was asked on Friday how much previous game plans are factored in when creating one this week.

“You always look at your last game plans, but we also know they're looking at their last game plans, and you always look at your last game films, and you know they're looking at it,” he said. “You do that. That's just part of your process. I think that's part of every coach's process, to look at the last time you played them.

“…So, you think about everything, and so you just try not to leave any stone unturned and you're trying to put your guys in position to succeed as much as you can, and that's our job, is to turn every stone over to look for any answer we can.”

They will look for answers for Minshew to solve the Saints’ defense and clinch the No. 1 seed.

If not, the new year will begin with a lot of stress because that would mean the Eagles will play a must-win game against the Giants to avoid losing their final three games of the season and, perhaps, falling to the No. 5 seed and hitting the road to play the NFC South champions, which could once again be Tom Brady and Tampa Bay or the Carolina Panthers.

Maybe even the Saints again.

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.