Jalen Hurts: 'I got a bounty on me every week'
PHILADELPHIA - For the first time since Jalen Hurts suffered a sprained SC joint in his throwing shoulder against Chicago on Dec. 18, the Eagles issued an injury report that did not include their star quarterback.
That’s not to say Hurts isn’t still dealing with pain but there is no gray area.
Barring a setback at practice the rest of the week, the Eagles quarterback will be at the controls for the divisional round of the playoffs against the surprising New York Giants with no injury designation.
Philadelphia went through a walkthrough practice on Tuesday in advance of Saturday night’s game at Lincoln Financial Field and Hurts was estimated as a full participant after being somewhat limited during the Eagles’ two bye-week practices.
With no game to play over the weekend, practice reports weren’t required but Hurts didn’t throw at a Thursday practice last week and slowly ramped up by Friday in portions of the sessions open to the media.
By Tuesday afternoon, Hurts himself spoke to the media and went his typical route when talking about his health.
“Feeling good,” the second-team All-Pro said.
The key to the Eagles’ offense is Hurts’ ability as a threat to pull the football in zone-read mechanics, something that Philadelphia scaled back in a Week 18 22-16 win over the Giants in the regular season.
Asked if he expects the playoff game to be a normal one for me, Hurts demurred.
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” he said. “I think it depends on how it goes.”
A team source expected the full Eagles offense to be on display for the playoffs but obviously if the best-case scenario unfolds and Philadelphia is routing the underdog Giants - as they did on Dec. 11 in a 48-22 victory - the Eagles would shift back into protection mode with the QB.
Hurts, though, is not expected to be 100% until after the season when he can let the shoulder rest and fully heal.
He’s also aware that the blitz-happy Giants will have a target on his shoulder.
“It’s football," he said. "I got a bounty on me every week I go out there on the field, so I’m going to go out there and play my game, so whatever happens, happens."
Hurts later clarified this isn’t a Buddy Ryan- or Gregg Williams-like bounty, just business as usual in the NFL for starting quarterbacks.
“Obviously, the quarterback gets a lot of attention,” he said. “I think every quarterback in the league has a bounty on him in the sense to stop him.”
Beating a team three times is often portrayed as difficult even if the numbers say otherwise but there is something to the familiarity of rivals and the fact that the Giants will have significant additions in the secondary who are back from injury in cornerback Adoree Jackson and safety Xavier McKinney, a longtime Hurts friend from their days together at Alabama.
“I can’t say that in a regular season, or one season, I’ve seen a team three times," said the QB, "but nonetheless, I just want to double down on that process, do the things that you’ve always done.
"Obviously, when you have guys that hang around from year to year, and they’re in the division, there’s a lot of familiarity with that … I think this is two months playing them three times, so it’ll be fun.
“We’ve gotta go out there and compete, go out there and execute, and play with the right fundamentals.”
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
