Why was the eagles game moved

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PHILADELPHIA – Are you ready for some Tuesday night football?

For the Eagles, their game Sunday against the Washington Football Team is being moved to Tuesday night, the NFL confirmed on Friday afternoon.

The game will be played at Lincoln Financial Field at 7 p.m. and will be televised by FOX. The Eagles released a statement saying that they will be in communication with fans regarding “pertinent gameday adjustments.”

Washington has been hit with two dozen cases of COVID-19 throughout its 70-man roster, counting the practice squad. That includes starting quarterback Taylor Heinicke and backup Kyle Allen and seven defensive linemen.

“We have made these schedule changes based on medical advice and after discussion with the NFLPA as we are seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus this week resulting in a substantial increase in cases across the league.” https://t.co/yGSo4hki5N

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 17, 2021

That would have left Kyle Shurmur, currently on the practice squad, as the starter after Washington scrambled to sign Garrett Gilbert off the Patriots practice squad on Friday.

The Eagles, meanwhile, have only two cases of COVID-19 in wide receiver Quez Watkins and practice squad running back Jason Huntley.

The game was one of three being moved because of COVID-19 outbreaks. The Cleveland Browns-Las Vegas Raiders game is being moved from Saturday to Monday. The Seattle Seahawks-Los Angeles Rams game is being moved from Sunday to Tuesday.

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"We have made these schedule changes based on medical advice, and after discussion with the NFLPA as we are seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus this week, resulting in a substantial increase in cases across the league," the NFL said in a statement.

It would have made for a lopsided roster situation, especially in a game with major playoff implications. The Eagles and Washington are among four teams tied for the final playoff spot in the NFC with a 6-7 record.

That could still be the case on Tuesday. But it's possible that some of the 24 players on the COVID-19 list could be activated by then.

For the Eagles, it will be an inconvenience because they'll have to play again five days later against the Giants on Dec. 26.

But Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Friday that he wasn't worried about that.

"They tell us where to play and when to play, and we'll play there," Sirianni said Friday before the changes were made.

As for the following week, he said: "I'm not going to think about that. I don't want to think about hypotheticals until they happen. Obviously, we have plans and everything like that, but not going to get into that. We'll be ready."

Safety Rodney McLeod, for one, wasn't too happy about the move.

So we have to suffer, and compromise our schedule because of another teams mistake. Make it make sense! Smh

— Rodney McLeod (@Rodney_McLeod4) December 17, 2021

He wrote on Twitter: "So we have to suffer, and compromise our schedule because of another teams mistake. Make it make sense! Smh"

McLeod might have been inferring that Washington should have to forfeit the game because of its COVID outbreak. But the NFL would forfeit a game only if it can't be made up.

And that's obviously not the case here.

But it could be an advantage for the Eagles, too.

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That's because it'll give two extra days for injured players like quarterback Jalen Hurts and running backs Miles Sanders and Jordan Howard to continue healing. 

Sirianni said Friday that Hurts, who missed the Dec. 5 game against the Jets, was going to be listed as questionable for Sunday. Sirianni said Hurts was a full participant in a glorified walkthrough practice Friday.

He wasn't going to make a determination on Hurts' playing status until before Sunday's game. Now Sirianni can wait another two days.

"I feel pretty confident and feel really good about where he is at right now," Sirianni said.

Sirianni added that he expected both Howard and Sanders to play on Sunday. So an extra two days will help them, too.

Howard missed the previous two days with a knee injury, while Sanders left the game against the Jets in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.

The Eagles have played on a Tuesday before. Back in 2010, a predicted snowstorm led to the postponement of their game against the Vikings until Tuesday. The storm wasn't nearly as bad as expected.

Vikings backup quarterback Joe Webb led a 24-14 upset over the playoff-bound Eagles.

At least Sirianni might not have to prepare for four quarterbacks like he was on Friday. He said he had already accumulated video of all of them, even Gilbert, who was a backup in Dallas last season.

"Shoot, I think they got tape of me at Mount Union in 2003," Sirianni said. "Our video department has everything of what we need to see. Again, you always want to prepare for the scheme that you're playing against. But then, obviously, the players that you're playing.

"It's always about the players and their talents and what they do. So, obviously, we have done a lot of homework of getting that information."

Contact Martin Frank at . Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.