6 Eagles who have the most to gain in regular-season finale against Washington

The Eagles insist that they're trying to win, that their goal is to make sure Washington doesn't celebrate the NFC East division title on their field.

But really, the Eagles' game-day roster will resemble a Week 4 of the preseason roster.

After all, the Eagles have ruled out nine players for the game Sunday night, most notably tight end Dallas Goedert, wide receiver DeSean Jackson, defensive tackle Fletcher Cox and defensive end Derek Barnett.

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Add that to the 16 players on injured reserve, and well, you get the idea.

On the offensive line, the Eagles will use their third left tackle of the season in Brett Toth. Toth, an Army veteran, last started a game in Dec. 2017 against Navy at Lincoln Financial Field. Jordan Mailata is out with a concussion.

Center Jason Kelce has been the only starter to make it through every game on the offensive line. Brandon Graham is the only starter on the defensive line to play in every game.

The secondary is also decimated with three starters out against Washington. Safety Jalen Mills went on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday, thus ending his season. He joins safety Rodney McLeod and cornerback Avonte Maddox, who are both on injured reserve with knee injuries.

It'll be cornerback Darius Slay and unknowns in Michael Jacquet at the other corner, and safeties Marcus Epps, Grayland Arnold and rookie K'Von Wallace. 

"I understand it’s a business at the end of the day," Graham said. "But when we’re on that field, we’re putting our career and life on the line ... Nobody is saying, ‘Ah, they let (Washington) win because (the Eagles) want to get that draft spot.’

"Nah, (it’s) ‘BG looked bad when he was out there.’ So you want to go out there with that mindset every time – to go win."

Here, then, are six young players who have the most to gain:

1. Jalen Hurts, quarterback

As soon as the game is over, Hurts' competition with Carson Wentz to be the starting quarterback in 2021 will begin in earnest. So far, Hurts has done some good things. He is only one of two quarterbacks since 1950 with at least 800 yards passing and 200 yards rushing in their first four starts.

He has also done some bad things such as three fourth-quarter turnovers last week against Dallas.

"I want to see how he responds to that adversity," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. "How well can the quarterback elevate the guys around him to play well with him? That’s all part of the process ... There will be enough time to evaluate the future as we move into the offseason." 

2. Marcus Epps, safety

There's a chance Epps could return next season as the Eagles' top safety. After all, McLeod just had knee surgery and likely won't be ready for the start of the season. Mills can become a free agent, and thus might not return.

Epps is finishing up his second season after being a sixth-round pick of the Vikings in 2019. Epps has an interception and five passes defensed this season.

"Any time you can go in and get live game reps, it can do a great deal for you, just gaining that experience and getting an in-game feel," Epps said.

3. Jalen Reagor, wide receiver

It has been well documented that Reagor's rookie season didn't go as well as he or the Eagles had hoped. Reagor, who missed five games with a thumb injury, has 381 yards receiving this season.

"It wasn’t enough for the team. It wasn’t enough personally," Reagor said. "Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror and you see where you can improve. That’s all you can do is incline, and that’s what I look to do."

4. Michael Jacquet, cornerback

Jacquet, an undrafted rookie free agent, is coming off a terrible game against the Cowboys in which Michel Gallup burned him in the first half and Amari Cooper in the third quarter before Jacquet was mercifully benched.

Jacquet will get another chance to start against Washington. Slay, for one, said he has talked to Jacquet about his early experiences with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, when they were both in Detroit in 2013. 

"I told (Jacquet) that I’ve been there with Schwartz being benched twice," Slay said. "I told him to keep his head up and keep playing because that’s what (Schwartz) is looking for you to do ... It made me the person I am today. I never want to fell that feeling again." 

5. Quez Watkins, wide receiver

Of the three rookie wide receivers, Watkins, the sixth-round pick, has shown the most growth over the latter part of the season. Watkins didn't play in 10 of the first 12 games, missing the first four with a hamstring injury. But over the last three, Watkins has 6 catches for 100 yards, including his first career TD, a 32-yarder.

"At the end of the day, I’m just glad that I could show something," Watkins said.

6. Alex Singleton, linebacker

Singleton isn't a young player as much as he's a new player. He didn't start until Week 4 and yet he'll end up leading the Eagles in tackles. He came into the game tied with Mills with 105 tackles.

Singleton wants to show that he's done enough to start next season. 

"As a player, you only really remember the bad from a season, especially one like this, and you just want to build for the next one," Singleton said. "It’ll be something that as I get older, I’ll be pretty happy with what I was able to do."

Prediction

So this is what the NFL flexed this game into the night time slot for: The team that can clinch will likely be using its fourth quarterback (Taylor Heinicke) and likely won't have its top wide receiver (Terry McLaurin).

Heinicke would replace Alex Smith at quarterback. Smith and McLaurin are listed as questionable. Heinicke was the teammate of Eagles' wide receiver Travis Fulgham at Old Dominion. 

"That’s the ODU legend," Fulgham said about Heinicke. "He’s a baller and I know he’s ready to make some plays – but hopefully not enough."

Washington does have the NFL's fourth-ranked defense, led by Montez Sweat (8 sacks) and rookie Chase Young (6.5). That should be enough to violate the Eagles' "no-hat rule."

But it won't be pretty.

Score: Washington 12, Eagles 6.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.