Will Jalen Hurts play on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys?

Naturally, that was the first question at Head Coach Nick Sirianni's virtual press conference on Monday afternoon.

"Jalen is in the concussion protocol," Sirianni confirmed. "When that happens, we just lean on the doctors to let us know on a daily basis where he is."

Hurts suffered the injury at the end of a 13-yard scramble with 9:52 to play in the first quarter. Hurts went down to the ground and had his head knocked into the turf by linebacker Frankie Luvu.

"He always has done a good job protecting himself and has been dynamic both as a passer and as a runner. Anytime something goes down and you lose one of your best players, you wish they would do something else or not take that hit in that scenario," Sirianni said.

"We always run runs that protect him, and we always want him to protect himself. Again, this is an unfortunate part of football, the injuries that happen. Unfortunately, sometimes it's with head injuries, and you never want to see that because you always want what's best for your players and their well-being.

"Obviously don't want him to take that hit."

Kenny Pickett replaced Hurts and was 14-of-24 for 143 yards with a touchdown and an interception for a 72.0 passer rating in the 36-33 loss to the Commanders.

"Kenny did some really good things there yesterday. Obviously, we missed Jalen. Jalen is a great football player who has had tremendous success and led us to a lot of victories. So, we missed him and his contributions to the team and leading the team," Sirianni said.

"But Kenny, under the circumstances, came in and did a nice job and played good football; gave us a chance to win the football game.

"Obviously, he's going to want some plays back, but he did a lot of good things. That's the nature of his position, that they have to be able to do those things without reps. Everyone knows that. They don't get a lot of reps there."

Sirianni will prepare for every scenario this week. If Pickett does indeed start against the Cowboys at 1 PM on Sunday, Tanner McKee would be the backup.

"Tanner has done a good job in scout team and developmental periods, and so, again, Tanner gives us a lot of confidence; Kenny gives us a lot of confidence. That's just a tribute to Howie (Roseman) and his staff of all the pieces that he has given us to work with and the depth he's given us to work with.

"We've had to play deep into our O-line. We've had to play deep into our secondary. Yesterday we had to play deep into our quarterback. We've got a lot of confidence in the guys that are on this roster, both the 53-man roster and the practice squad.

"There is a reason every one of them is here, and it takes every one of them to help us get each and every victory that we have gotten."

The Eagles host a Cowboys team that has been without its starting quarterback in Dak Prescott for several week. Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury on November 3.

In the Cowboys' last five games, Cooper Rush has been outstanding with nine touchdown passes and just one interception. The Cowboys have been swarming and attacking on defense.

In Sunday night's 26-24 victory over Tampa Bay, the Cowboys sacked quarterback Baker Mayfield four times, intercepted him once, and ripped away a fumble from running back Rachaad White in the closing minutes to seal the home victory. The Cowboys are 5-2 on the road this season and visit South Philadelphia having won four of their last five games.

The Cowboys are 4-2 since the first meeting between these two teams, a 34-6 Eagles victory in Rush's first start of the season back on November 10, and while they are eliminated from playoff contention, they are enjoying playing the role of spoiler.