Mike McCarthy updates the health status of ailing LB Micah Parsons

The Dallas Cowboys are working with a short week this week with their divisional showdown versus the Philadelphia Eagles coming on Saturday, instead of Sunday. Making the situation more precarious, according to head coach Mike McCarthy, the already-ailing defense will be without linebacker and sack leader Micah Parsons for the second consecutive day on Wednesday due to illness.

The Cowboys have been dealing with bouts of sickness throughout the locker room for the last few weeks.

“It’s going around,” McCarthy said on Wednesday.

Luckily for Parsons, he won’t have to worry about travel for this week’s game. Dallas hosts the Eagles at AT&T Stadium on Saturday afternoon under the covered roof, avoiding the winter blast coming in from the north.

This season, the former first-round pick has 59 tackles with 13 sacks and 13 tackles for loss. His sack total is fourth in the league after 14 games. He also has three forced fumbles, which is tied for fourth as well.

Cowboys deal with injury, illness ahead of Eagles matchup

Also listed as out from practice on Tuesday was Leighton Vander Esch. He was already ruled out for Christmas Eve by Dan Quinn after suffering a shoulder stinger versus the Jaguars on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were rocked by a surprise injury after their 25-20 win over the Bears on Wednesday — learning that quarterback and MVP candidate Jalen Hurts suffered a shoulder injury. While initial reports indicated that the injury was a shoulder sprain and that he would likely not miss significant time, the Eagles have a decision to make with the NFC’s top seed nearly locked up.

The unfortunate injury adds another layer of drama around the Dallas-Philadelphia rematch from earlier this year — which the Eagles won 26-17. At the time, Dallas was without their starting quarterback with Dak Prescott recovering from thumb surgery. Now, Philadelphia might be in the same position if they give Hurts some extra rest on Saturday.

Both Dallas and Philadelphia have secured playoff spots coming into the week, with the Eagles still playing to secure the No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.

On3’s Austin Brezina contributed to this report.