In Week 16, the Philadelphia Eagles played the Washington Commanders. and in that game, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts left in the first quarter with a concussion and did not return .
He would miss the final two regular-season games.
In the Eagles’ win over the Rams in the Divisional Round, Hurts injured his knee in the third quarter. He finished the game, but he was limited. Hurts was a full participant at the Eagles’ practice on Thursday and Friday, but how much mobility he’ll have will not be known until the game.
Washington defensive coordinator Joe Whitt made it clear that if Hurts is running the ball, he’ll be treated like a running back.
“If he is going to run the ball, and if the coordinator makes a decision for him to run the ball, we are going to treat him like a running back, and we are gonna hit him that way,” Whitt said. “So that’s their decision if they wanna get him hit the way he gets hit. If they don’t, they will keep him in the pocket.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was told about Whitt’s comments and responded.
“Every team is going to try to tackle [QB] Jalen [Hurts] like a running back,” he said. “He’s running with the football. They’ll try to tackle him. We already are ultimately cautious with how we use him and how we think about each play because we know how important it is to have him out there. But I wouldn’t expect anything else. Jalen knows how to take care of himself, and we know how to help him do that as well as far as the way the scheme goes.”
On Friday, Sirianni was asked how much mobility Hurts will have against the Commanders.
“I think he’s had a good week of practice,” he said. “I think he’s done some really good things all week. Yeah, we’ll see.”
At the end of the day, the Commanders are supposed to treat Hurts like a running back and like a football player, but those comments could be used as bulletin board material, which could give the Eagles and Hurts some extra fire.
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