Was Jalen Hurts’ injury the result of the Eagles managing him too much?
Philadelphia – The Eagles’ plan was working great until Jalen Hurts was injured.
Then questions about the possibility of Hurts running too much sooner came when Bears defensive lineman Trevis Gipson tackled Hurts, with Hurts’ right shoulder landing on the frozen ground of Soldier Field.
Diagnosed with a sprained shoulder, Hurts will not play Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles won’t have their MVP candidate at the helm when they can clinch the NFC East and the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs, with a first-round bye that comes with it.
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But it’s not as simple as telling Hurts to run less. If he did, he wouldn’t be a MVP candidate. It also wouldn’t be as effective as a passerby.
“For us to be the explosive offense we want to be – Galen is a very good passer and he has shown that he becomes a better passer every game he plays,” Eagles coach Nick Siriani said. “(But) he’s in the MVP race because of his dual-threat ability, with his ability to not only do what he’d do with passing the ball, but also what he was doing officiating the football.”
There is another side to this as well. Hurts’ running back unlocks not only passes, but also running lanes for Miles Sanders, who rushes for 1,110 yards.
Pain makes all of that possible. That’s because teams must allocate a defender to Hurts in the reading options. This is a lesser defender stacking to the line of scrimmage to stop Sanders. She keeps safety closer to the line of scrimmage and therefore slower to provide assists over Eagles wide receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Brown received 1,201 yards, just 209 yards shy of the Eagles single-season record. Smith has 901 yards, just 99 yards short of giving two Eagles receivers 1,000 yards for the first time in team history.
“We are who we are as an insult, explosive, in terms of scoring, all those different things, because Galen can do so many things, whether it’s football management or football passing,” Siriani said.
Brown added, “I can’t change the way he plays, but as a receiver you don’t want to see a quarterback get hit… I can’t say he needs to do this, he needs to do this. It worked that long. It was kind of like an accident.” strange. “
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A closer look at how Hurts runs shows he’s not often in danger, though Hurts did run the ball 17 times for 61 yards against the Bears, and though he’s had 156 carries this season, it’s just 21 shy of the number NFL team scored by Baltimore. Lamar Jackson in 2019.
Hurts would likely break the record if he played in the last two matches. But that seems unlikely now.
Against the Bears, Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said there were “probably six or seven quarterback runs designed. He had four quarterback sneaks.” The other six or seven carriers were scrambling on passing plays.
This looks average for Hurts this season. A look at other games shows that the Eagles usually call about five runs designed to hurt each game. There are usually about four scrambles per game and about three QB sneaks.
Hackers are basically doing damage running behind the offensive line, so this minimal contact is hard. Jamming is usually caused by Hurts slipping or running out of bounds, so this is also minimal contact.
Some tailored workouts are minimal contact, too. Despite Hurts’ 22-yard TD run late in the first half against the Bears, there was absolutely no connection.
Sure, Hurts has hit some big shots against the Bears, and he’s been in other games, too. Even Hertz admitted that.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve struggled with things I’ve had to overcome,” said Hurtz. “In this kind of situation (with a shoulder injury), it just so happens to be public. There have been a number of times we all have to persevere and have a lot of courage.”
Nobody was complaining when Hurts ran for 157 yards on 17 carries against Green Bay on November 27, or the week before that when Hurts had 16 yards for 86 yards against Indianapolis. The Eagles won that game 17-16, as they rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
On the game-winning drive with 1:20 left, Hurts converted fourth and second on 9 Colts, then scored on a quarterback tie. Again, no complaints about being hurt by the horns.
“We will always think of his safety first,” Siriani said. “I know you’re probably like, ‘Okay, he’s hurt.'” Well, he also ran for (157) yards against Green Bay. I get it. Sometimes it’s based on scores.” Well, he didn’t get hurt in that (game); He’s our best player.”
“Oh, he got hurt, what are you guys doing?” I understand this will be part of the audit.”
exceed it. Look around at the NFL. For every quarterback who is injured while running the ball, there are many others who are injured at the pocket. Hurts sprained his ankle last year when he was hit in the pocket.
The Eagles trust Hurts because he’s good at slipping, running out of bounds, and avoiding unnecessary blows.
“I think some of these (mobile midfielders) have a natural sense of when to come down and when to slide, and (Hortz) has done a good job on that,” said Steichen. “The one who had his shoulder on him, the guy just fell on him. The weight fell on him. That was just a weird thing.”
And if Hurts isn’t very good at avoiding contact? “Obviously if you’re around a guy (running) a lot, and he doesn’t have a natural sense of it, you really want to study some of the guys who have a good sense of it.”
If they don’t feel like it, don’t manage them.
But when these people feel, and get hurt anyway, sometimes it’s just football. This is why the Eagles have a backup like Gardner Minshew just in case.
Dallas in Dallas
Of course, the Eagles can beat the Cowboys without getting hurt. They’ll just have to do it differently behind Minkyu.
Minshew wouldn’t run it 17 times, or throw 50 yards down the field. But he will strike with his check. And the return of Dallas Goedert, especially on the intermediate routes in which Minshew excels, would help tremendously. Brown excels in gaining yards after the catch, especially on the slope.
And the Eagles have Sanders. Of note, the Cowboys gave up 192 rushing yards to Jacksonville last week, and allowed over 200 rushing yards in two other games. Sure, the Cowboys have linebacker/motivator Micah Parsons, but he can’t be all over the place.
“Sure, the roles will be a little bit bigger, but we’ll see,” Sanders said. “We’ll just take what the defense gives us and play game by game.
But this game will win the turnovers. The Cowboys have the most takeaways (26) and the Eagles are second (25). The Eagles are first in turnover teams (plus-12) and the Cowboys are second (plus-9).
It just so happens that Cowboys QB Dak Prescott has thrown 7 interceptions in his last 4 games. And the Eagles will pressure him as they lead the NFL with 55 sacks. But Prescott has handled pressure before, and he also has the best fullbacks in Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott, not to mention the talented receivers they can count on.
The Cowboys are second with 49 sacks, so they’ll be under pressure on Minshew as well. And they might force Minkyu to make one mistake too many.
a result: Cowboys 26, Eagles 24
cContact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow us on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
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