Jalen Hurts injury: Eagles’ star quarterback might not play against Dallas

As things stand right now in the NFC playoff picture, the Minnesota Vikings are (I believe) the only team that can prevent the Philadelphia Eagles from capturing the #1 seed in the conference playoffs.

The only way that can happen is if the Vikings win their last three games (vs New York, at Green Bay, at Chicago) and have the Eagles lose their last three (at Dallas, vs New Orleans, vs New York). We’re not saying that either (or both) of those things are going to happen or anything, but some news just came down that might make it tougher for the Eagles going forward.

Numerous sources, led by Adam Schefter of ESPN, are reporting that Eagles’ star quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a shoulder sprain in Philadelphia’s win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday and that he’s “uncertain to play” on Saturday against Dallas.

Although Hurts is an MVP candidate, and one of the leaders in that race prior to his injury, this doesn’t necessarily doom the Eagles or anything. They have a very capable backup in Gardner Minshew and his mustache, but it would certainly be a drop-off in the level of play they’d get from the quarterback position.

A win for the Eagles on Saturday in Dallas wraps up the NFC East for them and the #1 seed in the conference. If they can get that taken care of, they could probably just let Hurts sit for as long as he needs to and get him ready for the postseason.

Even with this injury, the odds of the Vikings picking up the #1 seed in the NFC aren’t great or anything, but this could potentially open the door juuuuuuuuuuust a little bit.

Above all of that, though, here’s hoping that Hurts is ready to go by the playoffs at the latest. Even if his team stands in the way of the Vikings, you hate to see a young star get hurt at an inopportune time like this.