Reading The Tea Leaves On A Walkthrough Wednesday For Eagles And Jalen Hurts

Jalen Hurts injured his knee in the third quarter against the LA Rams but did finish the game.
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) throws a pass during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) throws a pass during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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PHILADELPHIA - Forget run first. The Eagles have become run or else in a playoff season that is now a tantalizing 60 minutes away from Super Bowl LIX.

In wins over Green Bay and the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia has managed just 129.5 passing yards per game. That unimpressive number gets even worse when you factor in the sacks endured by a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who is treating ball security so seriously he often seems handcuffed to the football.

The Philadelphia offense has averaged just 93 net yards passing in its two playoff games and that number sunk dangerously low after Hurts was sacked seven times by the Rams. The net passing number against LA was a dismal 65 yards, the lowest number in the past decade for any playoff game by a winner or loser.

In many ways, the fact that the Eagles are still standing for the third NFC Championship Game in the past eight years at Lincoln Financial Field set for Sunday against the Washington Commanders is a testament to an often-used, battle-tested Nick Sirianni cliche.

Football is the "ultimate team game," the coach is find of saying.

Philadelphia has been riding a historic running game fueled by one of the best offensive lines of the generation, an Aaron Judge-like home run hitter in Saquon Barkley, and the plus-one factor of Hurts, coupled with the No. 1 ranked defense in the NFL to get to the precipice.

It's not a conventional path, especially in this era of football, but it has only eight quarters to go until the finish line.

Of the QBs left in the final four, the AFC side has future Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and legitimate MVP candidate Josh Allen of Buffalo.
The NFC has Jayden Daniels of Washington, who will be the runaway winner for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the embattled Hurts, who is now dealing with a knee injury suffered in the third quarter against the Rams.

On paper, the Hurt of 2024-25 doesn't measure up. That said, the Eagles' QB1 has settled in as a complementary piece who has taken care of the football as well as anyone and possesses the unique ability to make backbreaking plays when needed.

Last Sunday, Hurts got the scoring started by pulling the football from Barkley and scampering 44 yards for a touchdown. He's been lauded by Sirianni for his game-management skills and improvement in killing bad looks for good ones. It was Hurts who audibled to a run play on a 3rd-and-4 look that turned into a Barkley 62-yard TD late in the first quarter against the Rams.

“I think he’s been phenomenal at that part of the game, being able to get us in and out of plays versus different looks. That’s obviously super important for your quarterback to be able to do that," Sirianni said.

Hurts' passing numbers against the Rams were hampered by a pair of uncharacteristic A.J. Brown drops and the sack he took in the third quarter that sent him to the injury tent and had backup Kenny Pickett getting ready to enter the game.

Although able to return for the next drive, Hurts' mobility was hampered to the point many were questioning offensive coordinator Kellen Moore for allowing Hurts to drop back into the end zone late in the third quarter, a decision that turned into a Rams' safety.

Later when trying to close out the game with just 2:48 remaining, Moore called a Barkley run that went for three yards before bootlegging the injured Hurts right into a 12-yard Kobie Turner sack that destroyed the drive and gave the Rams one last chance to steal things before second-team All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter saved the season with consecutive dominant pass rushes in the waning seconds.

When healthy Hurts usually makes up for any mistakes. Of course, Hurts’ his ability to extend plays with his legs and serve as the plus-one in the running game to keep defenses honest with Barkley is critical for the way this offense is currently playing.

That’s why the condition of Hurts’ left knee this week is going to be the biggest story leading into the NFC Championship Game.

Already the Eagles have moved to a walkthrough that will be closed to the media on Wednesday.
Hurts is scheduled to talk later in the afternoon.

Reading the tea leaves on that points to the idea that Hurts is expected to play, something he already stated after the Rams game, but the QB will likely do little this week.

An estimated status report on Wednesday will likely list Hurts as limited while Philadelphia tries to get the QB1 through the week and keep the Commanders guessing on his health right up until game time when future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner will be tasked with quickly figuring out just how much is in Hurts' toolbox for the NFCCG.

That's important because assuming a limited Hurts can beat the Commanders with a pass-happy approach is not a forward-looking declaration based on the available data this season. It's more of a nostalgia-styled scouting report reaching back to the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

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John McMullen
JOHN MCMULLEN

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen