The Philadelphia Eagles will rest key starters in their Week 18 game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, even though their playoff seeding could still be improved. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni informed the players of his decision during a meeting on Wednesday.

The Eagles didn’t specify which starters will not play, but expect Tanner McKee to start at quarterback in place of Jalen Hurts. Some starters will be inactive, a few will be limited and others will be in uniform but not playing. As a reference point, the Eagles took this approach in Week 18 last season, with 34 players active, 10 in uniform who did not enter the game and 11 inactive.

Sirianni had been leaning in this direction and sided with rest while understanding the Eagles could still secure the No. 2 seed. It will require the Eagles to beat the Commanders and the Chicago Bears to lose to the Detroit Lions. Both games will be played concurrently at 4:25 p.m. (ET).

If the Eagles win and the Bears lose, Philadelphia would host the Green Bay Packers in the opening round. If the Eagles remain the No. 3 seed, they would host either the Los Angeles Rams or the San Francisco 49ers.

Sirianni explained on Monday why he would choose rest over playing all of his starters.

“This is a marathon of a season,” Sirianni said. “I look back and, I guess, to say why would we not play? Because that’s your question. If I look back and how beneficial some of the byes that we’ve had have been, that’s part of the reason why you think through it. It’s a marathon of a season. You give your guys some rest, you get some time to think through some different things, even though you’re preparing for an opponent as you go. Both times that I’ve been here that we’ve been to the Super Bowl, we’ve had that opportunity for a bye, and that’s ’22 and obviously ’24. In ’21, we created ourselves a bye as well. You have the opportunity to do that.

“… And ’23, we played a little bit in that aspect. You have a bunch of different scenarios, and yes, your seeding’s not locked down yet, but you are thinking, ‘Hey, can I put ourselves in the best position seeding wise?’ But also, you’re thinking to yourself how important byes are and creating them if you don’t earn the right for the first-round bye. Those are all things you’ve got to think through and go through because I think a lot of guys would say, last year, that that was a big deal of being able to have a bye last year to set us up for what we ultimately did last year.”

Internally, the Eagles do not view this decision as punting on the Week 18 game. They’re still playing to win — as they did last season when they beat the three-win New York Giants in Week 18 while resting starters. The Commanders (4-12) are expected to start third-string quarterback Josh Johnson and are missing key starters to injury.

This will be the fourth time in five seasons in which the Eagles have rested key players ahead of the postseason. In 2021, 2024, and now 2025, they used Week 18 as a de facto bye week for key players. In 2022, they played their starters in Week 18 to secure the No. 1 seed and a bye.

The lone exception was 2023, when the Eagles played their starters in a situation comparable to this season. They needed to beat the Giants and needed the Dallas Cowboys to lose to the Commanders.

The plan backfired, with A.J. Brown suffering an injury in the first quarter that kept him out of the postseason. Hurts was also injured in the game, and Sirianni eventually pulled his starters in a loss. That experience, along with the benefit of rest in the other three seasons, informed Sirianni’s decision this week.