Most of the Eagles’ key players watched the team’s inaugural Week 18 game from the sideline.
About 90 minutes before the Eagles’ regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, the team put out a lengthy inactive list that featured almost all of the team’s starters and key reserve players who were not previously ruled out for the game, including starting quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts, Darius Slay, Steven Nelson, Anthony Harris, Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, Josh Sweat, Derek Barnett, Javon Hargrave, and Miles Sanders made up the list. The Eagles also had 11 players on the COVID-19/reserve list ruled out a few hours before kickoff.
» READ MORE: The Eagles went into the Cowboys game with 11 players on the COVID-19 list, including Fletcher Cox and Dallas Goedert
Dickerson (thumb) and Johnson (rest/knee) were both listed as questionable on the injury report released Thursday. Sanders was ruled out earlier in the week with a hand injury.
Gardner Minshew got the start at quarterback in place for Hurts, his second of the season. In Minshew’s first action as an Eagle, he threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns against the New York Jets while Hurts nursed an ankle injury.
The only offensive starters who dressed for the game were Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, and Quez Watkins. Defensively, the only active starter was T.J. Edwards.
For Kelce and Smith, the playing time was tied to maintaining or chasing down records. Kelce was one of 12 players added to the COVID-19 list on Monday, but was the only player activated off the list in time for kickoff. He started Saturday and played one snap, extending his consecutive games-started streak to 122 — the longest active streak by any center.
Smith got the 38 yards he needed to overtake DeSean Jackson’s franchise record for most receiving yards by a rookie. The first-round pick had also advocated for some playing time earlier in the week, citing the importance of staying in a rhythm.
“I feel like I need to be out there,” Smith said. “It’s a momentum thing.”