The Philadelphia Eagles got off to a slow start on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Andre Cisco intercepted Jalen Hurts and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown, and later, Trevor Lawrence threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Agnew, and just like that, Jacksonville led the Eagles 14-0 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Philadelphia had a huge fourth and goal from the three-yard line, and the team needed a play, and Hurts made that play. The third-year quarterback scrambled and smelled the goal line, but Jags LB Devin Lloyd met him there, and Hurts lowered his shoulder and got into the endzone. Ultimately, Philly would score 29 straight points and defeat the Jaguars 29-21 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Obviously, you don’t want to see your quarterback take those types of hits. However, Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen is not concerned.
“Yeah, I think there’s a happy medium there, but I think when it’s fourth down, and we’ve got to go get it, he ain’t going to back down, and he’s going to go get it, and that’s what he did,” Steichen said.
“We had the third-and-goal at the 16, and he took off and got us down to fourth-and-goal at the 4, called the pass play there, they zoned everything off, and he saw a lane, and he went and got it.
“I think he knows the situation that we’re in. When we need to go get it, he’ll go get it, and he needs to be smart when it doesn’t call for that situation.”
After four games, Hurts has 53 carries for 253 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Hurts is an excellent runner and that part of his game makes him a weapon. For the most part, he does a decent job of not taking big hits. You get why Hurts lowered his shoulder in that situation, but again, it’s not something you want to see your starting quarterback make a habit of doing.
Below is “The Great, Not So Great, and Bottom Line” of Eagles’ win over Jaguars:
