Safety Skills, Trip To Catch Circuit, Resulted In Jalyx Hunt's Pivotal Pick-Six

MINNEAPOLIS – Jalyx Hunt was added to the Eagles’ weekly catch circuit on Friday, and whattya know, the extra attention to catching the ball paid off in a big way. Hunt’s 42-yard interception return early in the second quarter was huge at the time and turned out that those six points were the margin of victory for the Eagles in their 28-22 win over the Vikings on Sunday.

It's not like Hunt’s hands needed a complete rebuild. Just a freshen up, because his career began, after all, as a safety at Cornell.

“I know I’m way more comfortable than I’d say a lot of outside linebackers, especially in space,” said Hunt. “I understand what routes might be going on behind me, especially with the rushes that we have. I have a better understanding of where rushes are, where the rush lanes are, and what they’re doing up front, so I can understand where the ball’s coming out or where it might come out, how fast it might come out, things like that, with my safety knowledge.”

Catch circuits typically involve receivers and defensive backs, but linebacker Nakobe Dean said that head coach Nick Sirianni decided to add Hunt to it on the final practice before the Eagles flew to Minneapolis.

Hunt dropped an interception against the Giants 10 days earlier, though it would have been a great catch. This one was nifty, too, though Carson Wentz’s throw got on him in a hurry.

Jalyx Hunt: "I Can Catch"

“I can catch,” he said. “Last week I didn’t see the ball. This week I saw it. Everybody made fun of me. I take that to the chin. Can’t say nothing now, so I’m not too mad about it.”

So, Hunt is now a part of a somewhat statistical oddity. He has more interceptions (one) than sacks (0).

The play was engineered by a Jalen Hurts rush right over backup center Blake Brandel, who was casually shoved aside by Carter allowing Carter to bear down on Wentz. Linebacker Zack Baun was also coming on a blitz.

“It seemed like when Wentz hit his backfoot, and Jalen was already hitting him,” said linebacker Nakobe Dean. “He definitely had a hellified rush.”

Carter said he heard the crowd get loud after Wentz threw the ball, but he wasn’t sure if it was for a Vikings catch or something else.

“When I got up and saw we had the ball, I thought it would be DB or something, but the fact that it was Jalyx, d-end, that’s the guy? I was just happy for him," said Carter. "He was a safety. He’s got some hands. Pretty sure he still has them. I played tight end and I feel like I still got them. He’s got opportunity because he’s dropping (in coverage). They have a lot of trust in him.”

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