PHILADELPHIA — Jahan Dotson knew how most everyone felt about this game against the Giants, saw it in the way almost all of his Eagles team’s starters took the week off, felt it in the way Lincoln Financial Field seemed about half-empty for a regular season finale against one of their traditional NFC East rivals. But with the Birds already locking up the second conference playoff seed and the visiting New York Giants playing only to see whether head coach Brian Dabol figures out a way to convince his bosses to not fire him … really, who cared? Well, Dotson did. “You can see that a lot, with people calling this a meaningless game,” Dotson said Sunday after contributing heavily to a 20-13 Eagles victory. “But for us guys in this locker room, that game meant the world to us. It was an opportunity for us to go out and showcase our skills and we did that today.” Dotson is an all-around NFC East product. Born in Giants country in Newark, N.J., he was raised in sort-of Eagles country in the Lehigh Valley but claims to have been a Cowboys fan as a kid before becoming a standout wide receiver at Penn State and first-round draft pick of the Washington Commanders. But things have not worked out for him as expected, his fortunes declining last season as a second-year Washington receiver, then getting traded to the Eagles in the offseason and finding himself in an even more desolate situation. For a team that got on a roll offensively behind Saquon Barkley and his MVP-worthy campaign, there were only so many targets to go around. And most of them went to either A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith. Before this “meaningless” game, Dotson hadn’t had a catch in three previous games and was targeted only once in that stretch. But the guy knows a chance for redemption when he sees one. “I wanted this one,” Dotson said. “I knew those guys were resting, so I was going to kind of be the one. So I was excited for this opportunity. Younger me probably would have wanted to sit out, too, and rest my body. But I was ready to go. I was ready to get some opportunities and ready to take advantage of them.” Sure. After all, Dotson is a grizzled 24 years of age now. But a receiver not seeing spirals come his way can age fast. “I have the ability to make plays in this league,” Dotson said. “I’ve showcased it before. Whenever I get my opportunity I’m going to do it.” He proved just that against the Giants with third-string Eagles quarterback Tanner McKee at the controls. Dotson caught seven of a team-leading 11 targets, good for 94 yards. It was by far Dotson’s most productive game since Week 8 of the 2023 season for the Commanders, when he hauled in eight catches for 108 yards and a touchdown … against the Eagles. Perhaps that memory helped move Howie Roseman to make a trading pitch in August for Dotson. Whatever the reason, and despite his relatively inactive first Eagles season, Dotson is glad Roseman made the pitch of four draft picks to bring him in. “That was a really tough situation for me because that was the first time in my life when I wasn’t the guy,” Dotson said of his Washington experience. “I wasn’t the guy that on third down they were calling on to make the play. I didn’t really know how to deal with it then, but going through that process really helped me today and to be ready for my opportunities when they come. Being ready for the moment, no matter what it is. And if you don’t get one, on to the next game. I feel like I’ve learned a great amount from doing that … and I feel like I’m in a great place right now. “Being around these guys in this locker room, you get the utmost confidence in yourself because everyone around you is so confident,” he added. “Everyone’s confident in their skills and everyone’s confident that every time we step on the field against a different opponent we’re going to win. That’s what you’ve got to have on a team, and it’s really cool to be around these guys because that feeling is contagious.” Dotson is hoping this regular season finale represents a turning point in his Eagles tenure, and he’s aiming to expand on that when the Eagles host the Green Bay Packers in a Wild Card Round playoff game next weekend. “Whatever happens, happens. I’m going to be ready for the opportunity,” Dotson said. “I know Jalen (Hurts) trusts me. I have full trust in him and when my opportunities come, they come. I’m going to make the plays necessary for this team, and hopefully make plays toward a win.” • • • Dotson will play, but how about Hurts? Once again, he was on the down low at the Linc Sunday — but so were so many other starters — after he suffered a concussion on Dec. 22 in Washington. Once again fielding questions Sunday about Hurts’ availability, Sirianni went on the down-low with his answer. “Guys, he’s progressing through the (concussion) protocol,” Sirianni said. “We’ve talked a lot about that. I respect your questions. I’m trying to answer them all. Yeah, he’s progressing through the protocol.” • • • The Eagles last saw the Packers in the odd regular season opener in Brazil. The Eagles won that game, but the Packers rebounded for a 11-6 season, losing Sunday to the Chicago Bears on a last-second field goal that saddled them with a seventh seed. Also, quarterback Jordan Love suffered an elbow injury and he’s now a question mark. All that said, there will be no taking the Packers lightly. “They’ve evolved as a team and we have as well,” Eagles tight end Grant Calcaterra said. “It’ll be important to not only look at that (first) game but look at their games more recently and see what kind of team they are now.” As for his team, Calcaterra said finishing with 14 wins, tying most in a regular season from 2022, “means a lot.” “Especially since most of the starters didn’t play (today), it was just cool to see how locked in everybody else is,” Calcaterra said. “I think as we’ve seen throughout the year, when a starter goes down there’s a guy who comes in and does a good job, because we have a standard and we’ve done a good job to play up to that standard.”