The Eagles should sit Jalen Hurts against the Cowboys, even if he clears concussion protocol

Under no circumstances should Jalen Hurts play Sunday against the Cowboys. The risk exceeds the reward.

Hurts suffered the first concussion of his five-year NFL career Sunday at Washington. He is in concussion protocol, from which he will not emerge until the end of the week. His status for Sunday’s game will not be known until Friday evening.

It shouldn’t matter.

The Eagles are 12-3 and have qualified for the playoffs. A win in their last two games or a loss in the Commanders’ last two games ensures them the NFC East title and the No. 2 overall seed, which means they’ll be home for at least the first two games of the playoffs. Even if the Commanders catch them and the Eagles are a wild-card team, it’s better to have Hurts healthy than to have home-field advantage.

His teammates know this, and they see the sense of caution.

“It’s crossed our mind,” said right tackle Lane Johnson, who missed Week 4 this season with a concussion. “But at the same time, we want to win at least one of these last two.”

Of course, Hurts could play Sunday, help the Eagles win, and emerge completely healthy. He should not. The risk is too great.

Even if Hurts gets cleared, medical evidence suggests that it typically takes at least 10 days to minimize the risk of a second concussion.

There is no real urgency here. Play the percentages.

The likelihood of the Eagles earning the NFC’s No. 1 overall seed is minuscule. If Kenny Pickett starts Sunday in place of Hurts, the likelihood that the Eagles win the game is better than 50-50. Pickett played poorly Sunday at Washington as an in-game replacement, but he is 14-10 as an NFL starter.

If the Eagles lose to the Cowboys, then the likelihood of the Eagles beating the Giants in the season finale with a healthy Hurts is very high; the Giants have lost 10 in a row and, at 2-13, seem intent on securing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Finally, the likelihood of the Commanders winning Sunday at home against the Falcons and winning their finale at Dallas probably is about 50%, maybe less.

The likelihood of Hurts suffering a second concussion just seven days removed from his first concussion is much greater than that of Hurts suffering a second concussion just 14 days removed from his first concussion.

Maybe my concern is exaggerated. Hurts didn’t lose consciousness. He didn’t seem particularly woozy when he got up. He tried to talk his way into staying in the game. He tried to force his way back onto the field. He seemed sharp and alert in the locker room afterward.

Maybe he didn’t even need to leave the game. Maybe the NFL’s neurologist erred on the side of caution on Sunday to ensure Hurts’ long-term health. Removing concussed athletes immediately is the most important step toward a fast recovery, so maybe they’ve done the work already. What do I know?

» READ MORE: Eagles Week 17 power rankings roundup: Birds fall after loss to Commanders

I know the longer you take to recover after a head injury before risking another, the better your prospects, long term and short term. I know second-impact syndrome is terrifying and can be life-threatening.

I’ve been a concussion alarmist and a head-injury extremist since Brian Westbrook suffered a series of concussions almost 20 years ago, and I researched a series of stories on the matter long before lawsuits and a Will Smith movie forced the NFL to stop covering up its concussion sins.

Johnson noted that concussion protocols have evolved during his 12 NFL seasons. But anyone who witnessed the revolting events surrounding Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in 2022 — whose concussion prompted the latest protocol change — and several instances since involving other players has every reason to be skeptical of the NFL’s current concussion concern.

From playing-surface disputes to the absence of a mouth guard requirement to its historical indifference to head injuries, for all of its posturing, the NFL has never prioritized player safety over profit. It’s up to players to protect themselves, and it’s up to teams to protect their investments.

At $255 million, Jalen Hurts is the biggest Eagles investment ever made.

I believe that coaches and GMs should always prioritize health over postseason seeding. Last season, Hurts and A.J. Brown were injured in what likely would be a meaningless finale (and ultimately was just that). With Hurts hampered and Brown absent the next week, the Eagles lost their playoff game in Tampa, Fla.

I’m practical. Maybe hypocritical. If Hurts was cleared and the Eagles needed two wins to make the playoffs, I would understand the need to play him. There is no such need.

I’ve seen the brutality of the NFL firsthand in every one of my 34 years in the business, and it still makes me cringe. I cringed a lot Sunday night.

That’s when the Cowboys sacked Baker Mayfield four times in an upset win over the Buccaneers that gave the Cowboys their fourth win in five games, a sudden run of competence fueled by the pass rush. The Cowboys’ 46 sacks rank third in the league, and they’re getting better at it. They sacked Bryce Young six times vs. Carolina two weeks ago. Bengals quick-trigger artist Joe Burrow escaped with two sacks and a sore knee three games ago, but the game before that, the Cowboys dropped Drew Lock six times against the Giants, and they got Jayden Daniels four times in their win at Washington.

That’s 22 sacks in five games.

And they got Hurts five times in the Eagles’ Week 10 win at Dallas. Micah Parsons dropped him twice.

» READ MORE: Micah Parsons says it’s ‘personal’ ahead of the Cowboys matchup with the Eagles on Sunday

Don’t think Parsons wouldn’t love to be the one who sends Hurts into the playoffs hurting.

A Harrisburg native and a star at Penn State, Parsons — an emotional sort with hypersensitive antennae who frequently is the target of pro-Eagles social media enmity — now despises all things Philadelphia. Last week, when asked if he would root for a Commanders win that would extend the Cowboys’ slim playoff chances, Parsons replied:

“Nah, at this point, it’s [expletive] Philly, now,” Parsons told reporters last Thursday. “Even if we got eliminated, I got to crush Philly. [Expletive] them. I hate them now. I see them just talking so much on socials. My Twitter page got consumed by Philly [fans]. Man, ugh. They say don’t look forward to some things, but I’m excited about the matchup [next week in Week 17], too.”

Do you want to expose post-concussion Jalen Hurts to that?

The Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17. Join Eagles beat reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they dissect the hottest storylines surrounding the team on Gameday Central, live from Lincoln Financial Field.