Jalen Hurts Should Play in Final Preseason Game

The Eagles' young QB needs more live reps before Week 1

PHILADELPHIA - There is a very good chance you've already seen the last of Jalen Hurts in the preseason.

And that would mean the second-year Eagles quarterback with four career starts will show up for Week 1 in Atlanta with 10 live summer reps under his belt.

Hurts was supposed to have a few more than that but a stomach infection led to a late-scratch against New England on Thursday night and the plan of two series or so had to be scrapped.

Hurts, of course, also played two series in the preseason opener against Pittsburgh which turned out to be the 10 snaps. In the best-case scenario with no illness, Hurts may have gotten up to 20 or maybe even 30 with successful and longer drives against the Pats.

Of course, even that 30 number seems like a real shortened supply of action for what remains an unproven player.

The Eagles' original plan was to sit Hurts in the preseason finale against the New York Jets on Friday (7:30 p.m.), according to a team source, instead, leaning on the two scheduled joint-practice sessions in advance of the game this week in Florham Park, NJ.

“Next week we have two practices against the Jets (Tuesday and Wednesday) and two other practices,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I've said before, [the practices] are like games, so he is going to be able to get two more [work] there. ... I'm pretty confident that we'll get a lot of good work against the Jets.”

The Eagles' philosophy, which originates above Sirianni, is to get as many key players to Week 1 as healthy as possible and the plan put in place of limited preparation time is understandable with that goal in mind.

At what cost is that goal accomplished when measured against getting the younger players ready to hit the ground running against the Falcons?

The Eagles looked great in joint practices against the Patriots and then stunk up Lincoln Financial Field in a 35-0 setback while playing things cautious in a live environment, something that is a 180-degree turn from one of Sirianni's core values - competition.

That disconnect may not impact the veteran players much but it is a disservice to the younger ones who need reps to get better.

Take the wideout position where rookie first-round pick DeVonta Smith, and the two second-year players expected to join the Heisman Trophy winner as the core of the group, Jalen Reagor and Quez Watkins, all experienced some hiccups while playing 30 minutes of football against the Patriots.

The drops by Smith and the route-running issues from Reagor are real-time teachable moments for the players instead of classroom theory.

Hurts is left trying to gauge things in an environment where he's always wearing a red caution jersey and plays are whistled dead very quickly.

Asked by SI.com Eagle Maven earlier in the week if it can be frustrating to hear an early whistle once he begins to scramble and move up the field, Hurts said: "Yes, I do (get frustrated). It’s practice, you know. We obviously want to try our best to execute the play and everything done on time and in rhythm like we want but that’s not how football works. 

"It’s not always that way, so you have to be able to make those plays, extend those plays when things are covered up. When they blow it a little really you never know what could have been done in the end. But we work those things, drill those things and try to execute them when they come in a game."

Ironically, the QB is the type of player who excels more in a live environment where his strength and athleticism allow for extending plays and off-schedule offense.

Cam Newton of the Pats, a similar player with a veteran pedigree, looked like a disaster in the joint practices preceding the game before rebounding well in the whitewash.

As much as the Eagles would like to, no one has the ability to legislate injuries and you certainly shouldn't even be trying when it comes to 23-year-old players who need repetitions to get better.

John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven 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 both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.