Eagles QB Jalen Hurts listed as questionable but is ‘trending in the right direction’ to play vs. Giants

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is questionable to play Sunday against the New York Giants, but was “trending in the right direction” of being available according to Nick Sirianni.

Before Friday’s practice, the Eagles coach said Hurts has looked good in practice and has a good chance to play depending on how the rest of Friday went. Hurts has missed two games with a sprained SC joint in his right shoulder and has been a limited participant in practice this week.

”We’re going to see how today goes,” Sirianni said. “But he’s trending in the right direction, we feel good about it, but we have to see how the day goes.”

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During Wednesday and Thursday’s practice sessions, Hurts went through the early portion of practice and threw the ball without any apparent discomfort. He also went through ball-security drills that featured coaches hitting players with blocking pads as they ran with the ball; he was held out of a similar drill late last week.

On Friday, Hurts stretched with teammates during the limited part of practice open to the media. He’s also been running with the first-team offense, according to The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, and his teammates, including backup quarterback Gardner Minshew, say he looks poised for a return.

“He looks great,” Minshew said. “He’s a freak. He’s right back to where he needs to be. I’m excited to see him — whatever happens moving forward.”

Even though Hurts has made notable progress, he still has hurdles left to clear and the team avoided a definitive declaration on his status for the injury report as a result. Hurts wasn’t made available to reporters this week because of his uncertain injury status, suggesting things are still in flux.

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”I’m not quite there yet,” Sirianni said when pressed on Hurts’ status. “We’re still thinking through everything. ... There’s things that could happen, there’s things in the way he could feel today and all those different things.”

The Eagles (13-3) go into their final regular-season game with a chance to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the first-round bye week (and home-field advantage) that comes with it with a win. A loss and wins by the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers would drop the Eagles to the No. 5 seed. The team has lost both each of games with Hurts sidelined and the offense is coming off a listless performance against the New Orleans Saints.

If Hurts does return, offensive coordinator Shane Steichen acknowledged Thursday that keeping him out of harm’s way would be a factor in the game plan. A day later, Sirianni said the risk of Hurts aggravating the shoulder would factor into the decision to play him.

“Everything is taken into account,” Sirianni said. “... If a guy is not completely healed and he can hurt himself more, we always think about that. We’re not going to want to put them in a position to do that.”

“If he’s ready to play, we’ll play him,” he added. “It’s really as simple as that. If we feel like he’s trending in the right direction and after today’s practice and after he goes through his rehab today and all those different things that he’s ready to go, the contact, the hits, the throwing, everything is obviously taken into account.”

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Sirianni also said safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has a chance to come off injured reserve after missing five games with a lacerated kidney. Gardner-Johnson, who returned to practice this week, would be a welcome addition to a defensive secondary already missing starting slot cornerback Avonte Maddox.

“He’s doing a good job,” Sirianni said. “Again, we’ll see how today’s practice goes and how everything goes throughout today’s practice, but he’s done a nice job and we’re hopeful.”

The Eagles waived backup guard Sua Opeta on Friday, clearing one roster spot going into the weekend.

The team has multiple options with the open spot: Gardner-Johnson and edge rusher Robert Quinn are both eligible to come off injured reserve after returning to practice earlier this week. The Eagles also need to either sign punter Brett Kern off the practice squad or come up with a contingency plan to replace him on special teams because the veteran who has replaced the injured Arryn Siposs (ankle) the last two weeks is out of practice-squad elevations.

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Opeta, 26, has played 25 games, starting four, over the last three seasons with the Eagles and was viewed as the team’s top reserve at guard for a time. This season, though, Andre Dillard has been the first left guard off the bench. Jack Driscoll and rookie Cam Jurgens are both options at right guard as well. If Opeta clears waivers, he’ll be eligible to sign to the Eagles’ practice squad going into the playoffs.