PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles had their reasons for resting just about all of their starters Saturday night, even if the Cowboys played theirs, and even if it might have cost the Eagles some momentum heading into the playoffs.
But Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said some of his players were “dinged up,” and 11 others were on the COVID-19 list, and he wasn’t taking a chance with quarterback Jalen Hurts playing a fourth straight game on a gimpy ankle.
So Gardner Minshew got a second start at quarterback for the Eagles. And it went about as well as expected for the undermanned Eagles in their 51-26 loss.
After the game, Minshew confirmed a report that he had asked Sirianni what it would take to become the starter over Hurts back when he made his first start as an Eagle, against the Jets on Dec. 5.
“Yeah, that was pretty much it verbatim,” Minshew said about the report. “I think one thing this coaching staff is big on is just transparency and knowing where you stand. So I was just going in there. I’m a competitive guy. We’re all competitive guys. We all want to play.
“I was just asking what it took, and (Sirianni) said, ‘We’re solid right now.’ And I respect that. And I’m going to do everything I can to put myself in that position at some point.”
It’s clear that nothing changed after Minshew went 19-for-33 for 186 yards with two touchdown passes and an interception.
Hurts will run the team once the Eagles return to practice to prepare for a playoff opponent that will be determined later Sunday. The Eagles (9-8) will play either the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals or Cowboys.
The Eagles, whose four-game winning streak ended, will be the road team, regardless. They’ll find out after the games on Sunday if they’re the No. 6 or No. 7 seed.
Their seeding wasn’t going to be affected by whether they won or lost to the Cowboys. So they rested as many starters as possible.
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The only exceptions were center Jason Kelce, who played the first snap to extend his consecutive games started streak to 122, the most among active NFL centers; and wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who broke DeSean Jackson’s rookie receiving record late in the first quarter before exiting.
“A lot of people I trust were able to give me some insight on it,” Sirianni said about whether to rest his players or continue momentum into the playoffs. “I promise you I didn’t leave any stone unturned. I felt like in this scenario, we had some guys that were dinged up. Some of the decisions were made for me (because of COVID).
“But I really wanted to make sure we got some guys back to full speed, back to full health, to be able to do what we want to be able to do in the playoffs. The goal is not to just make the playoffs, the goal is to win games in the playoffs and advance as far as you can advance.”
Needless to say, the Eagles’ backups and deep reserves were no match for the Cowboys stars. That included quarterback Dak Prescott, who threw for 295 yards and 5 touchdowns before coming out after three quarters.
It’s just that one needed an updated scorecard to keep track of the Eagles’ roster.
The game was tied at 17-17 after rookie Kenny Gainwell’s 7-yard TD run with 3:40 left in the first half. But the Cowboys answered with two straight touchdowns just before halftime for a 30-17 lead, then blew the game open in the second half.
Still, the Eagles got a chance to see some of the younger players.
In addition to Gainwell, who rushed for 78 yards on 12 carries, both career highs, rookie defensive tackle Milton Williams had two tackles for losses and a massive hit on Prescott that certainly made Cowboys fans wonder why head coach Mike McCarthy would risk his star quarterback in a meaningless game.
That’s because Cowboys (12-5) had clinched the NFC East three weeks ago. They’ll host a first-round game next week.
The Eagles, at least, accomplished their goals, other than winning.
They rushed for 149 yards Saturday and finished the season with a franchise-record 2,714 rushing yards. That broke the previous mark of 2,607 set in 1949, when teams played 12 games.
And the Eagles made sure their starters, particularly Hurts, would be as healthy as possible for the playoffs.
“I know we have talked a lot about how we have to be our full arsenal of offense and not have any limitations to do what we want to do in the playoffs,” Sirianni said about resting him. “So, that’s what went into that.”
So Gainwell and practice-squad callup Jason Huntley (51 yards on 13 carries) did their job at running back with Miles Sanders out with a broken hand, and Jordan Howard and Boston Scott on the COVID list; Williams got his licks in on Prescott; and many other players got valuable experience.
That included tight end Tyree Jackson, whose first NFL catch was a 3-yard touchdown to open the scoring.
“It was a great experience for the guys that really hadn’t gotten a chance,” Gainwell said. “But for myself, it’s a chance to get more of a workload. It’s a great experience to just go out there and ball out.”
Now, Hurts and the other starters will take over, and Minshew and others will go back to the bench.
As Smith put it: “We didn’t come this far just to stop now.”
Rough night for Arcega-Whiteside
Wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, getting a rare opportunity to play, struggled to say the least.
He dropped a pass in the end zone in the third quarter, then was called for offensive pass interference on the next play. Later in the game, Minshew’s pass went through his hands and into the arms of linebacker Leighton Vander Esch for an interception.
In all, Arcega-Whiteside was targeted three times and didn’t have a catch.
DeVonta sets Eagles receiving record
It didn’t take long for Smith to set the Eagles’ record for receiving yards by a rookie, breaking the mark set by DeSean Jackson when he had 912 receiving yards in 2008.
Smith came into the game needing 38 yards to break the mark. He caught a 25-yard pass from Minshew on the third play of the game, but didn’t get another catch until the final minute of the first quarter.
He caught a 12-yard pass from Minshew to the Eagles’ 48. Then Minshew came right back to him on the next play, a quick-out for 4 yards. That gave Smith 916 yards receiving this season.
Granted, Smith needed the extra 17th game to get it, but it’s still a nice accomplishment.
Tyree Jackson’s 1st catch memorable
Tight end Tyree Jackson had played in the previous eight games, but had not caught a pass in his NFL career.
That changed Saturday. With Dallas Goedert and Jack Stoll on the COVID-19 list, Jackson became the Eagles’ top tight end. They also elevated Richard Rodgers from the practice squad.
So on 3rd-and-goal from the Cowboys’ 3, Jackson got his chance when he caught a shovel pass from Minshew and scored the first touchdown of the game.
Jackson later left the game with a knee injury.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
