Jason Kelce left Sunday’s game injured, which sucked. But the nice thing is that Nick Sirianni said on Monday he got “good, positive news back on him,” which bodes well as we head into the bye week.

Positive news and an extra week of rest for the Birds center, who was named on Tuesday as the Eagles’ nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, which is given annually as a reward for excellence in volunteer and charity work, as well as on-field excellence.

Here’s a portion of the press release:

Considered one of the league’s most prestigious honors, the award recognizes an NFL player for outstanding community service activities off the field, as well as excellence on the field.

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Off the field, Jason has shown an unwavering commitment to the Eagles Autism Foundation (EAF), the team’s signature charity dedicated to raising funds for innovative autism research and programs. Kelce and his family, who have a personal tie to the cause, have participated in and contributed to several EAF events, including the annual Eagles Autism Challenge. This past August, Kelce and his wife, Kylie, hosted an EAF fundraiser at the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City, NJ. Kelce served as a celebrity bartender and helped raise $50,000 for autism research and programming. Kelce and his family then matched that to bring the total funds raised to $100,000.

Jason’s support for EAF and autism awareness also includes visiting Kylie’s autism support classroom to inspire and connect with the students; attending the team’s Huddle Up for Autism event with his family; promoting the Eagles Sensory Room at Lincoln Financial Field on NBC’s Today Show to highlight the need for such spaces; attending every sensory-friendly Philadelphia Orchestra event the Eagles have hosted and also playing Fly Eagles Fly on the saxophone alongside the internationally-recognized Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Music Center; and donating experiences such as “Story Time with Jason Kelce” and “Play a Round of Golf with Jason Kelce” to the Eagles Radiothon, helping raise $20,000 for the cause.

In addition to his work with the Eagles Autism Foundation, Kelce has volunteered his time at numerous non-profit organizations throughout the Philadelphia region. Some non-profits include: the Eagles Charitable Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Ronald McDonald House, Bringing Hope Home, and Liberty USO. Furthermore, Kelce is an active board member on former Eagles’ teammate Connor Barwin’s foundation, Make The World Better, which is focused on public space revitalization projects.

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Fans are encouraged to participate in Nationwide’s 7th annual Charity Challenge, a social media campaign designed to support and promote team nominees. Fans can vote for Jason on Twitter between December 7, 2021 and January 17, 2022. To cast a vote, fans must include #WPMOYChallenge followed by the name ‘Kelce’ within the post. The player with the most votes will receive a $25,000 contribution to their charity of choice, courtesy of Nationwide. The second and third-place finishers will receive $10,000 and $5,000 donations respectively from Nationwide. Votes will only be counted from Twitter.

New this year, votes using #WPMOYChallenge followed by the name ‘Kelce’ on January 4-5 will count double. The first nominee to reach one million votes will receive an additional $10,000 donation from Nationwide.

Even if Kelce doesn’t win, he still gets a $40,000 donation to a charity of his choice, which is cool.

The Birds have had three past winners of this award – Chris Long in 2018, Troy Vincent in 2002, and Harold Carmichael in 1980. The Cowboys have three winners, the Giants one, and Washington two, so if Kelce wins it, we take sole possession of first place in the NFC East, with more Walter Payton winners than the Cowgirls. FYI, the other divisional nominees are Dak, Logan Ryan, and Jonathan Allen.