Nick Sirianni didn’t have the Philadelphia Eagles starters play much last preseason and may be repeating the process. When asked how long the Eagles starters will play in Friday’s preseason opener against the New York Jets, the head coach remained noncommittal.
“Still sorting through all that,” Sirianni said prior to Sunday’s practice at Lincoln Financial Field. “We don’t have to make that decision until Friday. We’ll probably make it a little bit sooner than that, but still sorting through that.”
Eagles starting quarterback Jalen Hurts took just 10 snaps last preseason, his first year as the team’s starter. Sirianni expects Hurts to play around the same length, giving him a brief appearance with wide receivers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
“Last year we played them, I want to say two series each. We felt like that was a good formula. I’m not committing to that yet,” Sirianni said. “But we’re still thinking it through at this time.”
The Eagles put plenty of stock in the joint practices in Sirianni’s first year, citing the sessions as a reason to rest starters in preseason games. Philadelphia has two joint practices this preseason, traveling to Cleveland to face the Browns in Week 2 and to Miami for the Dolphins in Week 3.
With Friday’s game being the lone preseason contest at home, Sirianni may play his starters a bit just to get them for game reps. Of course, Sirianni takes things on a case-by-case basis.
“How they feel today or where we are as a team today is going to change in the next three days, right,” Sirianni said. “We’re constantly in the business of getting better, and we will see how things change in the next three days.
“There are so many things that can change in those days; I’m trying to take it one day at a time.”
