Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni revealed on Wednesday his plan to rest starters, including Saquon Barkley, in Sunday’s regular season finale against the New York Giants. It’s a decision some analysts and former players believe Sirianni and the team will regret.
Barkley stands just 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season NFL rushing record of 2,105. The record has stood for 40 years, and the players — especially Barkley and his offensive linemen — want to be the group that resets that mark.
But with Philly locked into the No. 2 seed no matter who wins Sunday’s game at the Linc (1 p.m. EST, CBS), Sirianni has turned the focus squarely on Wild-Card Weekend and next week’s home playoff game against either the Green Bay Packers or Washington Commanders.
In fact, the team’s official injury report on Friday revealed exactly which starters the team is planning to rest vs. the Giants, listing the entire group as “doubtful” without an injury designation:
- RB Saquon Barkley
- LB Zack Baun
- WR A.J. Brown
- DT Jalen Carter
- LG Landon Dickerson
- RT Lane Johnson
- LT Jordan Mailata
- CB Darius Slay
- WR DeVonta Smith
A doubtful designation means a player is “unlikely to play,” so it’s unclear exactly which players will sit, suit up or be inactive. The team had only ruled out one player as of Friday, and that’s quarterback Jalen Hurts, who remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol and hasn’t practiced for two weeks. Others carrying an injury designation into the weekend are LB Nakobe Dean (doubtful, abdomen), QB Kenny Pickett (questionable, ribs) and RB Will Shipley (questionable, concussion).
The Eagles can only hold so many starters back on Sunday, as the active roster can only have 53 players. Among the players Eagles fans can still expect to see on Sunday are star rookie corners Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, safeties Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, tight end Dallas Geodert, Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens, and EDGE defenders Bryce Huff, Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith Jr.
