Packers hope to ‘flush’ loss to Bears as they prepare for Eagles; Jalen Hurts remains in concussion protocol

Matt LaFleur agreed with a reporter during his Monday afternoon news conference that momentum in sports is mostly a media contrivance.

“Obviously you would have liked to win every game, especially going into the playoffs,” the Green Bay Packers coach told reporters. “Today is the flush day, and then it’s moving on.”

There is a lot to flush for the Packers, who are limping into the postseason with two losses and dealing with some significant injuries as they prepare to face the Eagles in a wild-card round playoff matchup in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. LaFleur confirmed that wide receiver Christian Watson suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of this season. He said that starting quarterback Jordan Love (elbow) and backup Malik Willis (thumb) are “doing all right” and will find out over the next two days what their practice limitations might be as Green Bay moves on from Sunday’s 24-22 loss to the five-win Chicago Bears.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Packers: Four matchups to watch in a wild-card playoff rematch

LaFleur said his team was “sloppy” Sunday. They were playing a meaningful game against a Bears team that fired its head coach the day after Thanksgiving. Love left early in the second quarter with his elbow injury, and while the Packers were able to find their footing on the ground, they weren’t nearly as potent in their passing attack without Love and Watson. That lack of potency in the passing game was a theme over the final two weeks.

Green Bay battled back to take a late lead, but then gave up too many easy yards and allowed a last-second Bears field goal.

“Any time that you have mistakes you have to own up to them and face the music,” LaFleur said. “All you can do is move on and look at yourself critically and make the necessary corrections and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

LaFleur knows how difficult it will be to clean up those mistakes against a team as good as the Eagles. Momentum might not be real, but would you rather be the team that lost its last two and is dealing with injuries to key players (including cornerback Jaire Alexander, who is on the injured reserve list), or the team that rested its key players and watched its backups tie a franchise record with its 14th win of the season?

» READ MORE: Eagles superlatives: 10 awards from a regular season that surpassed expectations

Sunday’s game is a rematch of sorts, though both LaFleur and Nick Sirianni acknowledged how much has changed between both teams since the Eagles defeated the Packers, 34-29, in Brazil in early September.

“Teams develop from Game 1 to Game 18,” said Sirianni, whose team split its first four games before reeling off 10 consecutive victories. “Everyone is a different team.”

Said LaFleur: “Week 1 feels like a season ago, literally. I just feel like the [Eagles] defense, they’re humming right now. It’s a very talented defense. You can tell that they’ve got everybody on the same page. It’s much more difficult to get some of those explosive gains.”

Even more difficult without Watson, who was held in check for the most part in Week 1 but still caught a touchdown pass.

Sirianni had no new information to share regarding the status of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who remains in the concussion protocol as the Eagles get set to begin their practice week ahead of Sunday’s playoff opener.

The Eagles will not take to the practice field until Wednesday, and will not be required to issue a practice injury report until after that session. Sirianni would not answer when asked if Hurts was in the facility Monday, or how he was going about game planning this week as it relates to the status of his starting quarterback.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Jordan Davis accepted his lesser role, but he’ll be needed to stop the Packers in the playoffs

Sirianni was asked a question many Eagles fans are wondering: Has Tanner McKee played himself into being Hurts’ backup over Kenny Pickett, who is dealing with an injury to his ribs? Is there a reshuffling of the quarterback depth chart?

Sirianni, of course, wasn’t going to bite.

“I have a lot of confidence in both of the guys,” he said. “When Kenny’s had to play, he’s played really well. When Tanner’s had to play, he’s played really well.”

The coaching and general manager carousels are spinning fast, and the Eagles are involved. Assistant general manager Alec Halaby will reportedly interview for the GM position with the New York Jets, according to NFL Network. The network also reported that the New Orleans Saints requested to interview Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for their head coach position.