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Kenny Pickett Played in Sunday's Win Over Cowboys Despite Having Broken Ribs

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Even if Kenny Pickett never appears in another game for the Eagles, he's earned quite a few fans in Philadelphia. 

Pickett completed 10 of 15 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown in a 41-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys, adding another score on a quarterback sneak. He gave way to Tanner McKee in the third quarter after taking a hit from Micah Parsons, but by the time Pickett had to come out of the game, the Eagles had an NFC East-clinching win in hand. 

After the game, Darius Slay revealed to Ashlyn Sullivan of NBC Sports Philadelphia that Pickett was playing through broken ribs: 

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk added more details Sunday evening: 

"Although most people associated with the Eagles are being tight lipped about the situation, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that the Eagles backup quarterback indeed played Sunday’s game with broken ribs.

"We’re told that Pickett received two painkilling injections today — one before the game and one at halftime." 

Humans actually have 24 total ribs (12 pairs), and it's unclear how many Pickett fractured in relief of Jalen Hurts during last week's loss to the Washington Commanders. We also don't know if the hit by Parsons, or any others taken by the third-year quarterback Sunday, caused any additional fractures. Regardless, it's pretty impressive for Pickett to have played through the rib injury and performed pretty well Sunday against the Cowboys. Pickett appeared on the injury report this past week due to the ribs, but there never seemed to be much of a doubt that he would start with Jalen Hurts sidelined with a concussion. 

Based off of how concussion protocol typically plays out, one would think Hurts will be cleared before next Sunday's game against the New York Giants. The Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC, so they may just rest all their starters. Then again, Saquon Barkley has a chance to break the single-season rushing record and Hurts may want to get some reps again before the postseason. So maybe the starters will at least play to begin the game. 

Still, the most likely scenario would seem to be that both Hurts and Pickett don't play in a game that is essentially meaningless for the Eagles, and get another week to get healthy. McKee showed enough Sunday to make you think he can hold things down against the Giants, with Ian Book as his backup. 

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Tim Kelly

Tim Kelly is the Managing Editor for On Pattison. He's been on the Phillies beat since 2020. Kelly is also on Bleacher Report's MLB staff. Previously, Kelly has worked for Phillies Nation, Audacy Sports, SportsRadio 94 WIP, Just Baseball, FanSided, Locked On and Sports Illustrated/FanNation. Kelly is a graduate of Bloomsburg University with a major in Mass Communications and minor in Political Science.