Eagles injury updates: Estimated injury report ahead of Week 16 Cowboys game

The Philadelphia Eagles issued their first official injury report on Tuesday in advance of their Week 16 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Note that this report is an estimation because the team held a walkthrough in lieu of a normal practice.

Four players were listed under DID NOT PARTICIPATE: Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew, K’Von Wallace, and Zach Pascal.

Hurts is reportedly likely to miss this week’s game due to his right shoulder sprain. The fact that he was listed as a DNP only strengthens this belief. Hurts himself and Nick Sirianni are maintaining there’s a chance that he plays in Dallas. The feeling here is they’re going with that messaging because 1) Sirianni is big on the idea of ‘competitive advantage’ and wants to force the Cowboys to prepare for two different quarterbacks and 2) they want to downplay concern about the severity of his injury. I can’t say there’s a zero chance that Hurts plays but I’d guess it’s a single-digit possibility.

Minshew, who is likely starting on Saturday, missed practice because he attended and spoke at Mike Leach’s funeral in Mississippi. Minshew is expected to arrive back in Philly on Tuesday evening and practice on Wednesday. Ian Book, who has not been active for a game this year, was the only Eagles quarterback available for the team’s walkthrough. Book will be the backup to Minshew if Hurts is out on Saturday.

Wallace is an unexpected new addition to the injury report with a hip issue. He saw increased playing time in Week 15 due to C.J. Gardner-Johnson being on injured reserve and Reed Blankenship being ruled out. Blankenship was listed as a full participant (more on him later) on Tuesday, though, so Wallace won’t be needed like he was on Sunday. If Wallace misses this week’s game, the team will likely temporarily elevate Anthony Harris from the practice squad to serve as a backup behind Blankenship and Marcus Epps.

Pascal wasn’t listed on the original Tuesday injury report that the Eagles issued; he was added later with a concussion. Pascal must clear the league’s mandatory protocol in order to be eligible to play on Saturday. It remains to be seen if there’s enough time for that to happen. If he can’t play, the Eagles will be down to just A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Britain Covey at wide receiver. They do have Greg Ward and Devon Allen on the practice squad.

One player was listed under LIMITED PARTICIPATION: Tyree Jackson.

Jackson is apparently dealing with a knee issue. His injury comes at a time when the Eagles don’t really need him anymore since they activated Dallas Goedert from IR. Jackson was TE3 in the pecking order with Goedert out so now he’s TE4. Perhaps the Eagles might look to place Jackson on IR in order to open up a roster spot to sign Christian Elliss, who is out of temporarily elevations from the practice squad. Something to monitor.

One player was listed under FULL PARTICIPATION: Reed Blankenship.

Blankenship suffered a knee injury in Week 14 and missed Week 15. It looks like he’s ready to return to the field in Dallas. Good news. Blankenship figures to start at safety with CJGJ out for at least one more game.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES INJURY REPORT (TUESDAY)

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

QB Jalen Hurts (right shoulder)
QB Gardner Minshew (personal)
S K’Von Wallace (hip)
WR Zach Pascal (concussion)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

TE Tyree Jackson (knee)

FULL PARTICIPATION

S Reed Blankenship (knee)

DALLAS COWBOYS INJURY REPORT (TUESDAY)

Two Cowboys players did not practice: Micah Parsons and Leighton Vander Esch.

Parsons is merely dealing with an illness. He’ll be ready to play.

LVE, however, is likely to miss this game after getting hurt in Week 15. That’s bad news for the outlook of the Cowboys’ run defense.

Five Cowboys players were limited in practice: DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorance Armstrong, Jayron Kearse, Noah Brown, and Jake Ferguson.

Lawrence is a player who gets managed during the week in order to make it to game day.

Armstrong was limited all week in practice last week. He played despite being ruled questionable ... but he logged his lowest snap count of the season and failed to notch a stat. He seems to be operating at less than 100%. Armstrong ranks second on the Cowboys in sacks this season.

Kearse, a starting safety for Dallas, is also being managed to get to game day.

Brown, who ranks second on the Cowboys in receiving yards, is probably going to play but he’s a little banged up.

Ferguson, the Cowboys’ second tight end, is likely to return for this game after missing last week with a concussion.

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

LB Micah Parsons (illness)
LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck)

LIMITED PARTICIPATION

DE Dorance Armstrong (knee)
WR Noah Brown (foot)
TE Jake Ferguson (concussion)
S Jayron Kearse (shoulder/back)
DE DeMarcus Lawrence (foot)