Jerry had way more bullet holes in him two episodes ago and he survived, so I wouldn't worry about Birdperson too much.

Hard to say. They may keep the "new" Earth for the entire season (or longer) just to shake things up. Rick will be out of the hole (somehow) by the end of the first episode, most likely. But the new Earth might open up some new story possibilities they wouldn't have with the old Earth.

Sometimes there's a very thin line between being spineless and being a douche ;)

Summer definitely got more to do this season, competing with Morty for Rick's attention. She would definitely be all in on a rescue mission.

Maybe Jerry leads the family on that prison break? I figure, after two seasons of Jerry being a d-bag for 99.99 percent of it, I think they need to balance out his character with something actually heroic for once.

10? That's actually way more episodes than they've actually done the last 3 years.