Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Still Can’t Throw With Injury; Inside Practice Update
PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Hurts hasn’t thrown a pass since he dislocated the middle finger of his throwing hand on Sunday.
It’s now Thursday, t-minus four days and counting until the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback will line up behind center Jason Kelce and try to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the defending NFC champs open defense of their title in the wild-card round of the payoffs at Raymond James Stadium on Monday night.
The Eagles changed Thursday’s practice schedule, moving from a walkthrough to one in full pads, so reporters were allowed in to watch for about 10 minutes. Hurts didn’t throw during that open period, though he wore a glove on his throwing hand and did some RPO work, where he would hand off or run.
Jalen Hurts watches from the sideline after suffering a finger injury in the regular-season finale.
USA Today
Hurts was estimated to be a limited participant in Thursday's practice.
He injured the hand in the Week 18 loss to the New York Giants when linebacker Bobby Okereke blitzed and hit Hurts throwing hand while Hurts was attempting a pass on fourth down. Okereke kept coming and his helmet banged into Hurts’ hand.
The quarterback returned to the game, however, until near the end of the first half when he was removed for Marcus Mariota.
“Obviously, leaving that game and attempting to go back into that game probably wasn’t physically the best idea,” said Hurts on Thursday. “Not having much control over the things that I want to do, but time will tell with that. I can assure you that everything is progressing in the right way.”
Hurts conceded, too, that the finger hurt more on Monday, a day after the game. He was asked what the greater challenge was, throwing or handling the ball, and he said: “I think everything is a challenge when you have a finger out of place.”
He added, “It’s just a matter of me doing what I need to be able to do. I’ve gotta go out there and practice and see what that reality is.”
This will be the third postseason Hurts will enter banged up.
Two years ago, he had an ankle injury and needed surgery on it in the offseason. That was his first playoff game and, ironically, it was in Tampa against Tom Brady. It didn’t end well for Philly as the Bucs jumped to a big lead and won handily, 31-15, and Hurts threw two interceptions.
Last year, he went into the postseason with a shoulder injury, yet helped the Eagles get all the way to the Super Bowl.
“Jalen's tough and he's not going to tell me how bad he's hurting,” said head coach Nick Sirianni. “But I just know how tough he is and how much he can fight through and how much pain he can withstand.
“So obviously it will be a challenge. Obviously, it will be a challenge. And I know that he can overcome because he's overcome so many different things throughout his football journey. And that's what makes him special.”
