Seahawks make Geno Smith active, start Drew Lock vs. Eagles

The Seattle Seahawks made quarterback Geno Smith active for Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles, but Drew Lock got the start for a second straight week.

Although Smith has been dealing with a groin injury, him being made active about 90 minutes before kickoff put who would start against the Eagles in question.

On the other side of the ball,Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurtswas active and started after he was downgraded to questionable Sunday because of an illness.

Hurts, whose illness had worsened overnight Saturday into Sunday, traveled to Seattle separately from the team to try to avoid getting anyone else sick.

Hurts' chances of playing in Seattle were improved by the flexing of Eagles-Seahawks to "Monday Night Football" instead of the originally scheduled game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots. Had the Eagles-Seahawks game played Sunday as originally planned, Hurts would have had a tougher time playing.

Hurts, 25, did not practice Saturday. The 2022 Pro Bowler has passed for 3,192 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and has scored 12 rushing touchdowns this season, tied for the second most in the NFL.

Smith had been listed as questionable with the groin injury that sidelined him last week in Seattle's loss to theSan Francisco 49ers.

During his pregame appearance on Seattle Sports 710-AM, general manager John Schneider said Smith aggravated that injury in practice last week but surprised the Seahawks with how good he looked in pregame warmups.

"Geno came out tonight and really surprised in his pregame workout," he said. "A little aggravation during the week with it again, and not a lot of practice time, but had a nice workout here and moved around well. So he's going to be active and we've got, what, 54 minutes here to figure out what's going on. But Drew had a great week of practice and has been taking the first-team reps all week."

And it was Lock who ultimately got the nod.

Seattle cornerback Devon Witherspoon (hip pointer) and safety Jamal Adams (knee) were both inactive. Neither practiced at all this last week.

Smith hurt his groin Dec. 7, when he took an awkward step after tripping over a defender in practice. He didn't practice the next day and worked out at Levi's Stadium in an attempt to play, but coach Pete Carroll said afterward that he didn't have the necessary mobility.

Carroll sounded optimistic Thursday about the progress Smith was making, saying he "feels really good." Smith, though, sounded uncertain the next day when asked whether he would play against the Eagles, saying, "We'll see." The Seahawks listed him as a limited participant all week.

The Seahawks (6-7) have lost four straight games for the first time since Carroll became their coach in 2010. According to ESPN Analytics, they have a 32% chance to make the playoffs entering Monday night's game. That would improve to 55% with a win and drop to 16% with a loss.

ESPN's Brady Henderson contributed to this report.