Eagles News: Jalen Hurts reportedly available for Week 18

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Sources: Jalen Hurts expected to be available for Week 18 - ESPN
Eagles star quarterback Jalen Hurts will not play Sunday against the Saints but is expected to be available for Philadelphia’s regular-season finale against the Giants, league sources told ESPN. Whether and how much Hurts plays in Week 18 will be heavily influenced by what happens Sunday against the Saints. If the Eagles beat the Saints, they will lock up the NFC’s No. 1 seed and not have to play Hurts the following Sunday against New York. But Philadelphia could decide to get Hurts, who is dealing with a sprained SC joint in his right shoulder, a brief tune-up next Sunday before having its bye in the wild-card round and hosting a game in the divisional round. But if the Eagles fail to beat the Saints and do not secure the No. 1 seed Sunday, then Hurts would be expected to play against the Giants, according to league sources. “He’s ready to go for next week,” one source told ESPN.

Eagles rooting guide for Week 17 games - BGN
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: The Eagles can clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture with a win. They can also help to ensure the Saints first-round pick owed to Philly is at least a top 10 selection. Really gotta win!

Above the Nest with Raichele #70: Chasing sack records, DC Jonathan Gannon on preparing for Taysom Hill + Injury Reports - BGN Radio
Raichele Privette reflects on the good and bad from the Eagles’ loss to the Cowboys, runs through both team’s final injury reports and some Saints players to watch on Sunday.

Mailbag: Pressure is on for the Eagles to perform in the playoffs - PhillyVoice
There is going to be a lot of pressure on Jalen Hurts, Nick Sirianni, and Jonathan Gannon to perform in the playoffs. That’s just Philly. I think that if Dak Prescott (1-3 playoff record) or Lamar Jackson (1-3) or Andy Dalton (0-4, back when he was the Bengals’ franchise QB), or even Matt Ryan (in Atlanta) were quarterbacks in Philly they would be facing far more scrutiny than they do/did in their respective cities. Hell, Donovan McNabb got the team to the NFC Championship Game four consecutive years and still got all kinds of heat. This city is very impatient with playoff failures. The same can also be said for Sirianni and even more so, Gannon. If the Eagles play a decent quarterback in their first playoff game, and their secondary gets picked apart the way they did in Dallas, Gannon is going to be persona non grata in Philadelphia. The Eagles’ heightened success in 2022 is of course a great development for Hurts, Sirianni, and Gannon, but with it also comes higher expectations, fair or not.

Spadaro: 6 storylines to follow Sunday - PE.com
2. A new look for the Eagles’ offensive line. The hopeful news is that Lane Johnson will rest, recover, and rehab his abdominal/groin injury rather than have surgery and there is a chance he can be ready for the postseason, whenever that starts for the Eagles. In the short term, though, the Eagles are faced with the task of replacing Johnson, a Pro Bowl star, at right tackle for Sunday against a good New Orleans front that features Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport, and the much-improved Carl Granderson, who has four quarterback sacks for the Saints. New Orleans allows 132 yards per game on the ground, but the Saints are stingy against the pass. How does the offense change, if at all, without Johnson? Who will the Eagles play at that right tackle position – Jordan Mailata, Andre Dillard, Jack Driscoll? The Eagles have options and they have had all week to formulate a plan. But it won’t be a simple plug-and-play situation. Johnson is an outstanding player – Head Coach Nick Sirianni called him the best tackle in the NFL. The Eagles have quality depth here, but Johnson is special.

Eagles Q&A: Reed Blankenship on his most prized possession - NBCSP
This week, we chatted with rookie safety Reed Blankenship, whose prized possession is a collection of knives from his grandfather. Me: Tell me a little bit about it. Blankenship: I guess, when did that start? I guess it started when I was little, little. Every year for my birthday I would get to … he would either pick one out for me when he was still here or when he passed away, my grandmother let me pick out a knife. It was like a tradition and it’s something that I keep dear to my heart, just to remember him by and now remember her by too. I still have the collection in my room. I have two showcase boxes in my room. It means a lot, just to keep little keepsakes like that just to remember them by.

Saints fans clinging to what little hope they have left in 2022 - Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints playoff hopes are dangling by a thread heading into Week 17 of the 2022 regular season. But as each week ticks on and the Saints have not been mathematically eliminated, confidence in the team continues to grow. Back-to-back wins (over terrible teams) has also put part of the Saints’ season in perspective, but that could come crashing down tomorrow. However, as it stands today, heading into Week 17, fan confidence is at the highest it’s been in over a month.

Cowboys point/counterpoint: Biggest issues for the playoffs - Blogging The Boys
And that looks very bad for doing anything to fix the first down issue. Like so many things in football, it all is interconnected. The line was not getting the job done on first down runs already, and now we face some tough decisions for the final game. If Biadasz is not good for the playoffs, it could be the thing that dooms them in the postseason. The only part of the offense that is working is the passing game, and we all had a scare when Prescott came up limping a bit after one play. Fortunately, he shook it off. Should the last game be rendered irrelevant, the best course would be to sit him and let Cooper Rush get some more work. But then how do they work on fixing the first down issue? Perhaps a lot of handoffs will let them try. This would of necessity be behind a patchwork line due to Biadasz. I am very concerned they will have to go into the first round of the playoffs not really having solved the issue. Then we would just have to hope they figured it out in practice. It is not a comfortable place to be, at all.

Week 17 rooting guide for Washington Commanders fans - Hogs Haven
The silver lining of an Eagles victory, if it occurred, would be that it would lock the Cowboys into the 5th seed, giving Dallas nothing to play for in their Week 18 game at FedEx Field.

Sunday could be great day at MetLife ... if the Giants deliver - Big Blue View
Sunday could be a glorious, fun day at MetLife Stadium. The New York Giants are playing their most meaningful game in the building since the end of the 2011 season, when they beat the Dallas Cowboys Week 17 to win the NFC East and reach the playoffs, then routed the Atlanta Falcons on Wild Card Weekend to begin their run to a Super Bowl title. The Giants have made the playoffs just once since then. They can clinch a playoff berth Sunday afternoon by defeating the down-trodden 4-10-1 Indianapolis Colts. They are supposed to beat the Colts. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Giants as 5.5-point favorites (-245 on the moneyline). Indianapolis has lost eight of its last nine games. The Colts and inexperienced interim head coach Jeff Saturday managed to blow a 33-0 halftime lead to the Minnesota Vikings a couple of weeks ago, the biggest single-game regular-season collapse ever in the NFL.

Ranking NFL Rookie of the Year candidates for offense and defense in 2022 - SB Nation
2. Chris Olave, WR, New Orleans Saints. Right behind Wilson is his former Ohio State teammate, Chris Olave. Olave has 940 receiving yards on 63 catches, despite playing with multiple different QBs and Taysom Hill at QB. Olave has a 71.4% first down rate and averages the same Yards per Route Run as Stefon Diggs. Olave is consistently getting open and if the QB were any better, would put up even better numbers.

...

Social Media Information:

BGN Facebook Page: Click here to like our page

BGN Twitter: Follow @BleedingGreen

BGN Instagram: Follow @BleedingGreenInsta

BGN Manager: Brandon Lee Gowton: Follow @BrandonGowton

BGN Radio Twitter: Follow @BGN_Radio