On Monday, it was reported that Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a sprained right shoulder in the team’s 25-20 win over the Bears on Sunday, and on Tuesday, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed the injury.
According to reports, Hurts could miss two games. However, according to Sirianni, there’s a chance Hurts could play on Saturday in Dallas against the Cowboys.
“I’m never going to put a timetable on anybody,” Sirianni said. “I know you will always try. I’ll never put a timetable on him. He has a sprained shoulder, and I don’t put anything past [QB] Jalen Hurts as far as his mental and physical toughness. There’s a chance he could play this week.
“He is one of the toughest guys I know, and he heals fast. He’s a freak. His body is not like – pardon me – yours or mine. I’m shaming myself there a little bit, too. His body is not like ours. He heals fast. He came back fast from his injury last year, and I will not rule him out, will not put a timetable on him, and we’ll see. We’ll see what happens this week. He’ll be ready to go if he can play this week, and so will [QB] Gardner [Minshew].”
Hurts was injured when Bears DE Trevis Gipson tackled him on a run play in the third quarter. The third-year quarterback stayed in the game and did not seem impacted by the injury. According to Sirianni, that’s a testament to Hurts’ toughness.
“With [QB] Jalen [Hurts], he hurt that, as you guys know, in the third quarter, and that hurt him,” Sirianni said. “He was hurting. He had a freaking great fourth quarter.
“Pain tolerance with this guy, I never worry about. He’s an unbelievable competitor, unbelievable toughness. This is why every time there’s a question asked about Jalen, the first thing that you get, regardless of how he’s playing or whatnot, is about his leadership ability and his toughness, both mentally and physically. It will be more about the healing with Jalen than it will be about the pain because he can play through anything.”
At this point, the Eagles need to win one of their last three games to win the NFC East and be the number one seed in the NFC, so many would say if there are any questions about Hurts’ health, they should sit him and start backup quarterback Gardner Minshew. However, Sirianni disagrees.
“Because we don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “We want to make sure that we go out there and take care of our business. We all know we need to win one more game to make sure that we win the division. That’s your first goal that you want to do.
“We want to go out there and win this game, and if a guy is ready to play, then he’s ready to play. We’re never going to put the guy in a scenario where we’re going to be detrimental to him or set him back. So, it is all about if he’s ready to play. We think that that’s a possibility.”
Last season, Hurts missed one game due to an ankle injury in Week 13. Some question whether a dual-threat quarterback like Hurts can last an entire season, but Sirianni believes Hurts’ ability to pass and run makes this offense special.
“I think he’s got — what does he have, 13 (rushing)touchdowns, different ways to do that,” Sirianni said. “Like I said, we’re always going to think about his safety first, and I know you guys are probably like, well, he got hurt. Well, he also ran for 180 yards against Green Bay, and I get it; sometimes, it’s a result-based thing. Well, he didn’t get hurt that one; he’s our MVP, oh, he did get hurt; what are you guys doing? I get that. I get that that’s going to be part of the scrutiny, and I understand that. But we are who we are as an offense, explosively, scoring-wise, all those different things, because Jalen can do so many things, both running the football and passing the football.”
Losing Hurts negatively impacts the team, but the Eagles have three games left, and two of those three games are against the Saints and Giants at the Linc.
The Eagles could win one of those two games without Hurts, so if there are any questions about Hurts’ health, Philly should sit him, which will probably happen.
