Nick Sirianni addresses report Gardner Minshew asked him about Eagles starting quarterback job

Minshew reportedly asked Sirianni what it took to win Eagles starting QB job

Jalen Hurts has done more than enough to prove he should be the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, evidenced by Philadelphia reaching the playoffs in a transition year. While Hurts has the starting quarterback job secure, the Eagles have a good No. 2 quarterback waiting for an opportunity to start again. 

Gardner Minshew reportedly asked Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni what it would take to start in Philadelphia after his performance in Week 13 against the New York Jets. Filling in for Hurts (who was out with an ankle injury), Minshew finished 20 of 25 for 242 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions (133.7 rating) in the Eagles' 33-18 victory. 

Minshew had a case for the starting job based off that one game, but that opportunity isn't likely happening in Philadelphia. 

"He is a competitor. He is locked in, whether he's the backup, whether he's playing," Sirianni said. "He's been in both scenarios this year with the Jets game, playing in that game, not knowing if he was playing in that game until late in the week.

"The guy is going to prepare like crazy, no matter what the situation, and he's competitive. Of course, every backup that we have on this team, if they didn't want to be the starter, I would have an issue with them being the backup."

The Eagles don't have an issue at quarterback if Hurts were to miss time with an injury. In that Jets game, Minshew completed his first 11 passes and his 93.3% completion rate in the first half was the highest since Donovan McNabb in 2007 -- tied for the best mark by any Eagles quarterback since at least 1991 (when those stats first were kept). The Eagles scored on their first seven possessions in that game, the first time they have done that since at least 2001.

Hurts has done enough to prove he's the starting quarterback for the Eagles going forward. Over the last three games, Hurts completed a season-high 66.7% of his passes for 709 yards with three touchdowns to just one interception for a 101.3 passer rating. Of quarterbacks with 50 pass attempts, Hurts is seventh in the league in passer rating over the last three games, ninth in passing yards, and third in yards per attempt (8.75). The Eagles went 3-0 in those games, finishing sixth in the NFL in yards per game (391) and fourth in yards per play (6.1). Philadelphia averaged 27 points per game, good for ninth in the league.

Hurts is the eighth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 750 yards in a season. The Eagles don't appear to be moving on from Hurts, at least not in favor of Minshew anyway. 

"Gardner has played a lot of football in this league. I got a lot of confidence in him that he's our backup and he's the player that he is," Sirianni said. "Again, we always talk about wanting your backup quarterback to be able to come in and function and give you a chance to win.

"And we saw that. He was awesome in the game that he played against the Jets. And so, I would be disappointed if Gardner didn't want to be the starter, but obviously Jalen [Hurts] is our starter."