Taking Jalen Hurts’ place, Gardner Minshew misses an opportunity in Dallas, but Eagles are keeping the faith

ARLINGTON, Texas — While a postgame scrum emerged around DeVonta Smith from inside the visitors’ locker room at AT&T Stadium, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was seated several feet away.

Hurts, who was forced to miss Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury, quietly observed his surroundings while chowing down on his dinner before the team boarded charter buses bound for the airport. But when backup-turned-starter Gardner Minshew entered the room at the conclusion of the press conference, Hurts immediately dropped his plate, and motioned over Minshew to his corner of the room.

Exact details of the conversation involving the pair of quarterbacks remained private, but Hurts appeared to be referencing several moments and plays from the team’s 40-34 loss to the Cowboys. Minshew was all ears while Hurts consoled him.

“Jalen’s been awesome,” Minshew said. “He knows what it really feels like with these guys in the game. He has a lot of experience playing Dallas. I was able to lean on that. But really, I’ve learned from Jalen all year, really the last two years. He’s doing incredible stuff out there.

“I’ve learned a ton from him.”

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Ahead of the Week 16 contest, Minshew experienced several turbulent days that involved thousands of miles in flights and a roller coaster of emotions. After the Eagles returned from Chicago on Sunday night, Minshew, along with teammate Andre Dillard, jetted south to attend former Washington State coach Mike Leach’s funeral in Mississippi. After he missed Wednesday’s walk-through, Minshew practiced with the first-team offense just twice.

All told, Minshew put up a valiant effort against the Cowboys. He completed 24 of 40 passes for 355 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He nearly directed a game-winning drive until the offense stalled inside the red zone right before the buzzer. Minshew’s two interceptions were part of a four-turnover outing from the Eagles. During their two losses to the Commanders and Cowboys, the Eagles (13-2) have a combined eight turnovers.

“Yeah, man — there was a lot going on [in my personal life],” Minshew said. “We lost. It sucks. You always want to do your job well enough for the team to win. I felt like I didn’t do that. Things to grow and things to build on, but a lot to clean up.

“A ton of guys have put in a ton of effort in this season. I’m just trying to win. I don’t want to let them down.”

Given the uncertainty of Hurts’ status for the team’s next game against the New Orleans Saints on Jan. 1, there’s a strong chance Minshew could be the guy again. Between a handful of run-pass options, a mix of screens, and even a successful quarterback sneak, the offense still rolled out some regularities in its play-calling. However, Minshew offers a contrast to Hurts.

“It was definitely different because Jalen and Gardner are two different people,” said wide receiver A.J. Brown, who had six catches for 103 yards. “Gardner prepared well. I think he handled the situation perfectly. We just have to take care of the ball. It’s hard to win in this league when you don’t take care of the ball.

“It’s all on us. We’re the only ones that can stop ourselves. Obviously we’ve got a backup quarterback. We have faith in Minshew to get the job done.”

Throughout the week, the coaching staff attempted to get Minshew up to speed as quickly as possible. Upon his return from Leach’s funeral, Minshew’s first stop was meeting with position coach Brian Johnson. Along the way, Hurts, who received constant treatment and rehab, attempted to aid Minshew behind the scenes.

“I thought he did a good job, especially for the situation,” center Jason Kelce said of Minshew. “That’s a good team, on the road. It’s hard. We put up points. We’ve just got to do a better job taking care of the football. Outside of that, I thought we were decently effective offensively.”

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One of Minshew’s favorite targets was Smith, who finished with a team-high eight catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Smith’s performance put him over 1,000 receiving yards this season, and he insists there’s more to be had over the regular season’s final two weeks.

“We’ve got to keep stacking,” Smith said. “We know the things we have to work on. We know we have to get the timing right. Gardner isn’t a running quarterback, but everything else is kind of the same, honestly. Passing the ball, getting touches and targets — the passing game is still the same.”

Looking ahead, the Eagles need to win one of their final two games in order to secure the NFC’s No. 1 seed, which would secure them a bye week and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, along with the NFC East title. Given the circumstances at quarterback, Minshew figures to be a large part of that equation.

“This wasn’t a one-week project,’ Minshew said. “That’s something all year, they’ve been doing a great job getting me reps in practice. I felt ready to go. All the guys fought their tails off.

“This one hurts. But there’s not a group I’d rather step out with.”