The Philadelphia Eagles are 8-7 and currently hold the seventh and final spot in the NFC playoff race.
That means the team cannot afford anything to go wrong over the next two weeks.
One potential disaster would be losing a key player, like a quarterback, to COVID.
The New Orleans Saints were forced to start Ian Book on Monday and that may ruin their season.
The Indianapolis Colts just revealed Carson Wentz tested positive, which could doom their playoff chances.
The Eagles have seen this and have decided to isolate their quarterbacks from each other.
Nick said the Eagles are going beyond NFL protocols when it comes to COVID safety. Said the quarterbacks – Hurts, Minshew and Sinnett – will be in separate rooms during QB meetings and will remain isolated from each other the week.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) December 27, 2021
Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew, and even Reid Sinnett cannot be in the same room together.
That way, if one gets COVID the other two should be fine.
This may seem drastic, but it almost sounds necessary given how one positive case can run through a building.
Eyes On The Playoffs
The Eagles have Hurts as the starter.
But even if he is out, Minshew is right there as a capable backup, having already won a start this season.
Nick Sirianni said the Eagles will be intensifying COVID protocols, including separating quarterbacks in the building to help avoid spread.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) December 27, 2021
Yet the Eagles want Hurts out there and other teams may want to follow this strategy, especially at quarterback.
Absences in the regular season are one thing.
But the NFL is still waiting to see if a star player will be forced to miss a postseason game because of a positive COVID test, even if they are asymptomatic.
Separating the quarterbacks should not be a big deal given the fact they can still communicate via Zoom.
This is also only a precaution in the building, so they can still communicate while practicing outside.
The Eagles went from 2-5 to 8-7 and have divisional showdowns against Washington and Dallas still on the schedule.
They may not be able to avoid positive tests in general, but reducing the potential for a quarterback-specific outbreak is a great idea and further illustrates just how creative teams are getting in 2021.
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