Philadelphia Eagles: To play or not to play Gardner Minshew

If the Philadelphia Eagles start Jalen Hurts in Week 18, we riot.

… okay, maybe not really but hear me out on this one.

Yes, the Eagles are on a four-game win streak. Yes, their offense has looked good, particularly on the ground, and their quarterback play with Hurts at the helm has evened out considerably from his Week 12 low, but with one twisted ankle, dirty hit, or even just poorly planted foot, that could all go out the window.

Which is more important, a fifth straight win that has virtually no impact on the team’s future or keeping Hurts healthy heading into the playoffs?

Yeah, give me the latter every darn day.

But this question presents an interesting follow-up, one worthy of consideration on this, the eve of the Philadelphia Eagles’ Saturday night Week 18 contest: Should Gardner Minshew start at QB?

Starting Minshew presents more harm than good for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Historically speaking, the Philadelphia Eagles have valued backup quarterbacks more than most.

They signed Chase Daniel to a massive contract, re-signed Philadelphia legend Nick Foles in one of the most prophetic moves of Howie Roseman‘s career, and, most notoriously of all, drafted Jalen Hurts mere months after giving Carson Wentz over $100 million.

While some of those decisions have aged better than others, it’s hard to argue with Roseman’s desire to always have a quality insurance policy on his active roster, especially in 2021, where QBs have been dropping like flies.

Did you watch the Minnesota Vikings attempt to keep their playoff dreams alive with Sean Mannion under center? Yeah, I don’t want to ever see the Birds in that situation.

In Gardner Minshew, the Eagles have a really good secondary quarterback option, with some outwardly campaigning for him to start outright to this very day. If Hurts goes down in Week 19, versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Los Angeles Rams, Minshew gives the Birds a puncher’s chance to come out of the contest with a W regardless of their underdog status.

But if Minshew can’t go, either due to injury or a COVID diagnosis, that chance all but disappears, no offense to third-string quarterback Reid Sinnett.

The Eagles know this. That’s why they’ve reportedly been keeping their quarterbacks apart during the week just in case one lands in protocol and why the team has to consider giving Minshew either a preseason starter’s worth of snaps versus the Dallas Cowboys or another week holding the clipboard as Sinnett’s backup.

For a competitor like Minshew, who reportedly asked Nick Sirianni what he’d have to do to become a starter – Sirianni’s response? Not gonna happen – being held out of action for precautionary reasons probably isn’t his first choice, but in the grand scheme of things, I would imagine Minshew would trade in some garbage time for a chance to make his playoff debut.

In my humble opinion, Gardner Minshew will start for the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 18, even if it’s not what I would do personally. I would imagine Nick Sirianni will string together some easy, rapid-fire drives to get Minshew more live snaps against a depleted Dallas Cowboys secondary – and get DeVonta Smith the franchise rookie receiving record – before allowing Reid Sinnett to close out the game for two, maybe even three quarters. If Minshew makes it out of the game in one piece, it will look like a rousing success. If not? Light your Jalen Hurts prayer candles folks, for he’ll need all of the luck he can get.