'Tough' Hurts fights through injury in Eagles' win
PHILADELPHIA — Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts played the second half of Sunday night’s 31-17 win over the Miami Dolphins with a brace on his left leg.
Hurts did not go into much detail postgame, but a source said it’s believed to be a knee injury.
“I’ll be fine,” Hurts said, though when asked if it’s something that will affect him moving forward, he responded, “I hope not.”
Hurts on Sunday rushed 11 times (including three kneel downs) for 21 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 279 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He rushed three times in the second half.
Hurts appeared to be grimacing as he jogged off the field after the game. Teammates indicated he played through pain.
“I don’t want to put his business out there, but he’s a tough individual,” receiver A.J. Brown said.
“Our style of play, sometimes he scrambles out and may get nicked up,” added right tackle Lane Johnson. “But he does a good job. He never really shows it or complains or anything.”
Hurts was late coming out of the tunnel for the second half, and backup Marcus Mariota warmed up on the sideline in his absence, creating some confusion about who would be under center when the offense retook the field.
Coach Nick Sirianni, though, said it wasn’t in doubt that Hurts would continue playing.
“He played the rest of the game and played at a very high level,” Sirianni said. “I thought he played really outstanding. Man, he is a competitor. There is nobody else I would rather be our quarterback. He played his butt off tonight. He’s tough.”
Hurts had a pair of giveaways in the game, including a pick-six, upping his turnover total to 10 on the season — second highest in the NFL behind Desmond Ridder of the Atlanta Falcons. Hurts has thrown an interception in a career-high three straight games.
But he continues to generate points, and Philadelphia keeps winning, improving to 6-1 on the year.
On a night when the Eagles donned the throwback kelly green jerseys, Hurts tied Randall Cunningham for most rushing touchdowns by an Eagles quarterback (32).
“It’s crazy,” Hurts said. “Kind of cool to do that wearing his old jersey.”
When asked what’s in store this week in terms of following up on his injury, Hurts said: “Nothing too much. Just get ready for the next opponent.”