PHILADELPHIA — One day, Jalen Hurts might actually admit how much his shoulder ached as he fought his way through a game the Eagles needed to win.
But that wasn’t the case on Sunday, although it was pretty clear to see Hurts not racing, and therefore not being himself.
All you’ll get from Hurts after the Eagles’ 22-16 win over the Giants is this:
“I had certain things that I had to fight within myself,” Hurts said. “I knew I wanted to be available for my team.”
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Hurts needed to be available for the Eagles to beat Giants backups. There was no choice. Hurts had missed two games after spraining his shoulder Dec. 12. 18 against the Chicago Bears when he was thrown onto frozen Soldier Field.
The Eagles lost both. They still needed just one win to lock in the NFC East and the No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoffs and the all-important bye in the first round.
“He told us he was going to play,” running back Miles Sanders said.
When did he say that?
“I heard (miss) 2 weeks, then Giants,” Sanders said. “That’s all I heard, so I knew he was going to play.”
But really, no one knew if he would actually play. Not Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, who classified him as questionable on Friday after Hurts failed to practice all week.
“I know he was in pain. He was in a lot of pain,” Sirianni said. “But that’s the kind of competitor he is. That’s the kind of person he is and the kind of teammate and leader he is that he was able to go out there and to resist.”
Even Hurts’ best friend, receiver AJ Brown, didn’t know Hurts was going to play, even though Brown said last week he would.
“I really didn’t know,” Brown said. “I thought he was going to play, but it was still up in the air. I just expected him to play, to be honest.”
It’s no wonder Sirianni has been saying for weeks that Hurts is “tougher than you and me”, making Hurts a superhuman monster with special healing powers.
Maybe he has those powers, but not on Sundays. Hurts had to make some concessions for his shoulder. He didn’t try to run away. And there were plenty of instances where he slipped or ran out of bounds, rather than dropping his shoulder and gaining extra yards.
He threw for 229 yards and only rushed for 13. That was good enough to beat the Giants with a practice squad QB. It won’t be good enough in the playoffs, but Hurts played so he had an extra week to make it good enough.
“I’m just playing the game – playing the game and protecting myself,” Hurts said. “I think that’s what you all want to hear. I’m protecting myself.”
What about the game plan?
“(Coaches) were protecting me too,” he said.
Part of that may explain why the Eagles were 1 for 5 in the red zone even though they entered the game converting 72% of red zone moves into touchdowns. They settled for five field goals and allowed the Giants to trail.
The Eagles had no choice. They were a mess last week against the Saints with Gardner Minshew starting his second straight game in place of Hurts. They only got a first down with 12 seconds remaining in the second quarter in their 20-10 loss.
The previous week, Minshew threw for 355 yards, but he also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in the Eagles’ 40-34 loss to the Cowboys.
There was no more room for error. Hurts, even at any percentage, was the Eagles’ best option at quarterback.
Good luck getting Hurts to tell you what that percentage was.
“Good enough to win (Sunday),” he replied.
“Coming into this game, I really pushed myself beyond the metrics to try to be available,” he added. “It wasn’t an easy thing. It still isn’t easy.”
But here’s why Hurts is a top MVP candidate, and here’s why the Eagles desperately needed Hurts to play: “He’s a very driven competitor,” center Jason Kelce said. “So you’re always going to feel that from this guy. He’s been like that since his rookie year. He’s a fun guy to play football with. He’s a natural competitor in the broadest sense of the word. I think you feel all of that.
“It was killing him the last two weeks, even though Gardner did a phenomenal job. But obviously Jalen wanted to be there.”
So appreciate his tenacity, appreciate his leadership. But above all, appreciate how he gutted a game he probably didn’t have to play.
“I’m proud to be the quarterback for this team and to be the leader of this team,” Hurts said. “I know it’s all earned. When I speak, (my teammates) really feel me. I try to speak in a way and do my day-to-day actions so that (my teammates) can hear me, and they have the right to.
“I just challenge everyone to do what it takes to do their best. It comes from responsibility, it comes from self-awareness and it comes from knowing the things you need to grow on.”
And now Hurts and the Eagles get their reward: a week off, a chance for Hurts’ shoulder to heal even more, and a chance for the Eagles to reach the Super Bowl by winning two home games – the longest way. as simple as possible.
So Hurts was asked once again, what percentage was his shoulder?
“Pretty good,” Hurts said of beating the exhausted Giants.
Because it was, Hurts can make sure he’s “good enough” to win the playoffs.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
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