The records and personal achievements for Eagles players during the regular season won’t matter as much as the playoff game that will follow.
In that regard, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he and his staff are working through the best course of action as the team gets ready for its final regular-season game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night.
“We haven’t decided anything there yet,” Sirianni said. “We don’t have to decide right now. We’re preparing like we would normally prepare … So, we’re trying to get our plan ready. We’re trying to rip through that.
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“I know there is a thing about resting, and there is a thing about staying sharp.”
The only player who Sirianni said most likely wouldn’t play is running back Miles Sanders, who has a broken hand.
But really, the Eagles don’t have much to gain by playing many of their starters. The Eagles (9-7) currently hold the seventh and final playoff spot in the NFC. They could move up as high as No. 6 with a win and a 49ers loss.
They could also move up with a loss, as long as the 49ers lose and the Saints win.
Currently, as the No. 7 seed, they would most likely face either the No. 2 seed Los Angeles Rams (12-4) or the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-4) in the first round the weekend of Jan. 15-17.
But the Cowboys (11-5) can get the No. 2 seed only if they win, and both the Rams and Bucs lose Sunday. Any of those three teams, along with the Arizona Cardinals (11-5), can end up as the No. 3 seed.
Regardless, the Eagles won’t know how any of that will play out because their game is first.
Of course, some of the Eagles’ starters might not be able to play anyway. They placed 12 players on the COVID-19 list on Monday, including starters like DT Fletcher Cox, TE Dallas Goedert, C Jason Kelce, LB Alex Singleton, CB Avonte Maddox and running backs Jordan Howard and Boston Scott.
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As of Wednesday, none have come off the list.
In addition, right tackle Lane Johnson hasn’t practiced all week. His injury is listed as “rest/knee.”
There’s also quarterback Jalen Hurts, who for the second straight day was listed on the injury report as limited with an ankle injury. Hurts has played in three straight games with the ankle injury after missing the Dec. 5 game against the Jets.
So it seems like the Eagles aren’t willing to take any chances with Hurts suffering a setback.
At running back, if Sanders, Howard and Scott don’t play, that would leave rookie Kenny Gainwell as the only one on the game-day roster. In that case, the Eagles would elevate practice quad players Jason Huntley and Kerryon Johnson as COVID replacements.
The players, meanwhile, say they want to play, although they didn’t say for how long.
“I feel like I need to be out there,” rookie wide receiver DeVonta Smith said. “I feel like the whole team needs to be out there. It’s a momentum thing. We’ve kind of got everything going in the right direction, so just keep that momentum building.”
“I love football, and I’m preparing,” Hurts said. “It’s business as usual.”
Added defensive tackle Javon Hargrave: “I’d rather play football. Any time you can try to get a sack, I’m going to go forward, or get (tackles for losses) or tackles. Of course, I love to play.”
Hargrave has already set his career high in sacks with 7.5, tied for the team lead with defensive end Josh Sweat. Sweat had 1.5 sacks on Sunday in the Eagles’ 20-16 win over the Washington Football Team.
It is also a career high for Sweat.
As for personal achievements, Kelce has started 121 consecutive games, the longest active streak among NFL centers. COVID-19 could put an end to that streak more so than whether Kelce wants to play or not.
Certainly, Kelce would want to at least start the game. If that happens, Kelce would move into sole possession of third place in Eagles history by playing in his 159th career game as an Eagle. Kelce could break Chuck Bednarik’s record of 169 games next season, assuming he returns.
In addition, Smith needs 38 more receiving yards to break DeSean Jackson’s rookie record of 912, which Jackson set in 2008. He also needs 125 yards to become the Eagles’ first wide receiver with 1,000 yards since Jeremy Maclin in 2014.
Hurts has plenty of incentives to keep playing, too.
He is one of seven quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for at least 750 yards, joining the likes of Arizona’s Kyler Murray, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Eagles great Randall Cunningham, who was the first to do it in 1990.
Hurts leads the Eagles with 784 yards rushing. He has an outside shot at Cunningham’s record for rushing yards by an Eagles’ quarterback. Cunningham had 942 yards in 1990. Hurts would need 159 yards against the Cowboys to break that record.
Even if Hurts does play, chances are that he won’t finish the game.
Besides, Hurts seems just as intent on avoiding COVID-19 as he does the Cowboys pass rushers.
“I definitely try to do anything and everything that I can to stay free of it,” he said about COVID-19. “Obviously, it’s kind of hard to overcome considering how fast it’s spreading, and different things going on with it.
“If I ever catch it, I’ll know that I caught it trying to do the right things with the right intentions, and taking the right precautions.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
