David Carr suggests the Eagles sit Jalen Hurts in place of Marcus Mariota until Hurts is healthy

Jalen Hurts is still one of the favorites to win the league’s Most Valuable Player award. If the Eagles capture the top seed in the NFC, there’s a very good chance Hurts will win it.

That’s not stopping one analyst and former NFL quarterback from making an aggressive suggestion.

The Eagles, NFL Network’s David Carr, brother of Saints quarterback Derek Carr, said Tuesday He should consider replacing Jalen Hurts with Marcus MariotaUntil the painful thing becomes completely healthy.

Carr’s argument is that the Eagles need to get his damage percentage up to 100 percent, in order to get the most out of his skills.

“Jalen is clearly not comfortable reading the defense in a back pass scenario,” Carr said. “Some people might say he’s not good at it. And I think when you look at this team, you have to have a serious conversation if you’re from Philadelphia. You have to really say, ‘Are we better off playing Marcus Mariota now and letting Jalen get healthy?’ Because I would argue that it doesn’t matter if they’re the number one seed. Because if the 49ers come to Philly again, they won’t care.

Michael Robinson tried to understand how the conversation with Hertz would go.

“If you’re Nick Sirianni, this is the kind of decision and conversation you have to have, if you have a big picture mentality,” Carr said. “And I think you can have that conversation honestly with Jalen and you can sit down with him. That’s all Jalen talks about is the bottom line. And getting to the Super Bowl and winning this thing.”

Carr’s point carries a plausible nuance that most people will ignore. Although the Eagles never revealed any type of injury to Hurts this year, it is clear that he was dealing with a knee issue. In the past four games (Cowboys, Chiefs, Eagles, 49ers), Hurts has the lowest among quarterbacks. Although the Eagles have won three of those games, Carr’s view is that the best chance to win the postseason could come from being healthy.

Of course, this assumes that sitting now makes him feel better later. It also opens the door to the possibility of the Eagles not even winning the division and having to go on the road for at least two rounds of the playoffs, if Mariota plays.

The only practical approach for the Eagles is to go week by week. Along the way, they have to hope Hurts takes full advantage of the time between games to become healthier than he was before.