Business as Usual For Hopeful Jalen Hurts as Eagles QB Manages Shoulder Sprain
PHILADELPHIA – It’s business as usual for Jalen Hurts.
So says the Eagles quarterback as he tries to manage a right shoulder sprain well enough to be able to play against the Cowboys in Dallas on Saturday.
“Definitely a chance,” said Hurts on Tuesday when asked if there’s a chance he could actually play.
“Just taking it day-by-day, though. Everybody knows that I’m dealing with something. I think that’s pretty public. It’s out there. I’m not one to really talk about myself.
"Obviously being a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles you can’t run from that. But I’m taking everything one day at a time with it and preparing for a really good defense.”
Earlier, in the day, head coach Nick Sirianni said that he and his staff would cobble together game plans for Hurts and Gardner Minshew since the skillsets for each quarterback are different.
"I don't put anything past Jalen Hurts as far as his mental and physical toughness," said Sirianni. "There's a chance he could play this week. He is one of the toughest guys I know, and he heals fast. He's a freak. His body is not like - pardon me - yours or mine.
"He'll be ready to go if he can play this week, and so will Gardner."
Minshew wasn’t available for Tuesday’s walk-through because he was in Mississippi delivering the eulogy for his former head coach at Washington State, Mike Leach, who passed away last week at the age of 61.
That meant third-string QB Ian Book was likely getting more reps than he has received all season, though there's no way to know for sure since the walk-through was closed to media.
Hurts was injured late in the third quarter of Sunday’s 25-20 win over the Chicago Bears when he absorbed the full weight of Trevis Gipson after the QB ran the ball for a few yards and was tackled by the 263-pound Gipson.
“As a receiver, you don’t want to see your quarterback get hit,” said A.J. Brown, who hauled in a 68-yard catch that led to the clinching TD in the final quarter, a throw Brown said was a dime.
“Sometimes you like to see a slide, but that’s the way he plays. I can’t say he needs to do this, he needs to do that. It’s worked this long. It was kind of like a freak accident.”
That Hurts remained in the game and played well, completing 7-of-10 throws for 110 yards, while running for a first down on fourth down and scoring a 1-yard TD, is encouraging.
Asked by SI Eagles Today about finishing the game, he said: “It took a lot of grit. It took some courage and it took the people around me. When you’re in a situation like that, we have a ton of guys who play through things.
"We have a ton of guys who have to overcome adversity and obstacles in front of them, and I think that was something we did together.”
Hurts said he knew when the injury happened because he is “very aware of my body” and didn't seem too concerned about what the injury might do to his MVP chances.
"I’ve never been able to control those things other than what I do on the field," he said. "Nothing changes here. I’m going to prepare myself to go out there and give it my best."
That said, Hurts will only play if he feels he can help the team, not hurt the team because he isn't up to the task.
"Ultimately, I want to do what’s best for the team," he said. "It’s a thing where you take it one day at a time. I think the best thing for me is being ready to play and being of best health and that’s a day-by-day thing."
The quarterback has been around Minshew for two seasons now but didn’t want to single just him out when asked how helpful the backup has been to his development.
“I’m appreciative of everybody in the quarterback room, the help they’ve been for me,” he said. “We’re all young players in that room and you can say young coaches as well and we all bounce ideas off one another, we challenge each other to get better, and it’s a room I really appreciate.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
