Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will start Sunday’s regular-season finale against the New York Giants, who will turn to recently elevated practice-squad quarterback Davis Webb as their starter, sources told ESPN.
Hurts has missed Philadelphia’s past two games — both losses by the Eagles — because of an injury to his throwing shoulder. The Eagles (13-3) need to win or tie against New York to clinch the top seed in the NFC and a first-round bye; they could also get the top seed if the Cowboys (12-4) lose to the Commanders.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said this past Friday that it was “trending in the right direction” for Hurts to start against the Giants. Hurts is officially listed as questionable after being limited in all three of the Eagles’ practices.
Hurts has thrown 22 touchdowns and has 3,472 yards passing, rushing for 747 yards and 13 touchdowns. His 35 total touchdowns this season tied the franchise record set by Randall Cunningham in 1990.
While Hurts and the Eagles will be motivated to clinch the NFC East title and the No. 1 overall seed, the Giants (9-6-1) are locked into the No. 6 seed and will play a wild-card game next weekend at either Minnesota or San Francisco.
Coach Brian Daboll did not officially disclose whether the Giants would rest any starters — including quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Saquon Barkley — against the Eagles, saying this past Friday that he and general manager Joe Schoen had still not made a decision.
It will be the first career start for Webb, who was a third-round draft selection of the Giants in 2017 but has never attempted a pass in a regular-season NFL game. He also spent time as a practice-squad player with the Jets and Bills before rejoining the Giants this past February.
The New York Post first reported the Giants’ plans to start Webb. Tyrod Taylor is expected to serve as Webb’s backup.
Webb, who was officially elevated from the practice squad Saturday, laughed Friday when asked if he volunteered to start so that Jones could rest against Philadelphia.
“Yeah, but I do that every week,” Webb told reporters.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Tim McManus and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
