Jalen Hurts will play against Seahawks – NBC Sports Philadelphia

SEATTLE – Jalen Hurts will get over it.

The Eagles’ quarterback was sick for a few days and was demoted to questionable this weekend. But he is active and will play against the Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

Hurts, 25, missed training on Saturday due to the illness, and when he woke up Sunday morning, he was still sick. That’s when the Eagles downgraded him to questionable and Hurts traveled to Seattle separately in an effort to keep his teammates healthy.

Although Hurts and the offense haven’t played well the past two weeks, Hurts has been an MVP candidate all season. This season, Hurts led the Eagles to a 10-3 record while completing 66.5% of his passes for 3,192 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also accounted for 460 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.

Even though Hurts is active, it will be helpful to keep an eye on him throughout the game. His backup is Marcus Mariota.

Hurts is active but the Eagles are without three starters. Here’s a complete look at the inactive items:

CB Darius Slay (knee)
LB Zach Cunningham (knee)
RG Cam Jurgens (bra)
RB Rashad Penny
T Albert Okwuegbunam
QB Tanner McKee

Meanwhile, the Seahawks will start quarterback Geno Smith, who entered Monday’s roster as questionable with a hip injury that sidelined him last week. His backup in this game is Drew Lock, who started last week against the 49ers.

Slay last week underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee and will miss some time, but the Eagles are hopeful he will return before the end of the regular season. He played through the injury last week. In Slay’s absence, expect rookie Kelly Ringo to fill in for him. The fourth-round rookie played just one defensive snap all of last season until last week when he played in 22 games.

Without Cunningham, the Eagles will play newcomer Shaq Leonard alongside Nicholas Morrow. Leonard, 28, played 14 defensive snaps in his Eagles debut last week. But he will need to have a much bigger role in this game. The only other off-ball linebacker on the 53-man roster is rookie UDFA Ben VanSumeren.

Jurgens hurt his chest last week against the North Texas Cowboys and missed practice all week. During offensive line drills this week, Sua Opeta was filling in at right guard. The Eagles veteran is expected to start this match amid a loud atmosphere at Lumen Field.

The Eagles on Monday afternoon elevated rookie defensive back Mekhi Garner for this game. Expect the junior to play a role on special teams and add some depth in the secondary. This is his third and final promotion for the 2023 regular season.