PHILADELPHIA — There, in the end zone, was a sight to keep eyes sober.
Jalen Hurts tossed a medicine ball twice to a trainer. He pulled on his pads. He snapped his helmet on and tossed a few warmup passes.
Hours later, the Philadelphia Eagles officially listed Hurts as a full participant in Thursday’s practice — the most promising sign yet that the franchise quarterback will play in Philadelphia’s home wild-card playoff game Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
Hurts missed the regular season’s final two games in concussion protocol. He missed two weeks of practice. He returned Wednesday with limitations. With Thursday’s development, expectations are increasing that the Eagles will begin the postseason with their full offensive starting lineup.
Tight end Dallas Goedert, who returned from a knee injury in the regular-season finale, has not been listed in any of this week’s injury reports. Three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown, who completed his third straight 1,000-yard season, sat out Thursday’s practice with a knee issue. Brown is expected to play Sunday. The Eagles are limiting their leading receiver’s workload to have him as close to 100 percent as possible against the Packers.
This era of Eagles is familiar with untimely injuries. Hurts has managed some form of ailment in all four of his postseason runs. In 2021, he played through an ankle injury that required offseason surgery. In 2022, he battled shoulder pain after separating the joint during the regular season. Last year, Hurts popped out the middle finger of this throwing hand in the regular-season finale against the New York Giants, which prevented him from throwing a football until days before a wild-card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — a game Brown missed after injuring his knee against the Giants.
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That Brown has been managing a separate knee issue this season attracts concern. His injury first popped up on the team’s official report Dec. 20. Brown subsequently started against the Washington Commanders, caught eight passes for 97 yards and a touchdown, started against the Dallas Cowboys in a Week 17 throttling Brown left early, then was one of 18 starters who sat out an inconsequential finale against the Giants. Brown did not make himself available to the media Wednesday or Thursday. The Eagles went 1-2 when Brown was sidelined earlier this season with a hamstring injury. He recorded a season-high 119 yards and a touchdown against the Packers in the Sao Paulo season opener.
Hurts is in the fifth and final phase of the NFL’s concussion protocol. He must be cleared by an independent medical professional. Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson was ruled out the morning of a Week 4 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because he didn’t participate in a contact practice. The Eagles have been practicing in pads inside Lincoln Financial Field this week.
Any suggestion that the Eagles offense is just as formidable without Hurts is either hopeful or presumptuous. Their offensive EPA per play drops significantly from when Hurts is on the field (0.10) versus when he is not (0.03), according to TruMedia. The difference between those numbers is the difference between the offensive EPA of the potent Minnesota Vikings (0.01) and a Pittsburgh Steelers offense (-0.06) that’s averaging 14.3 points in a four-game losing streak.
Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee indeed embody a reliable backstop. Pickett’s sudden substitution for Hurts in their loss to the Commanders was overshadowed by dismal defensive and special teams play, plus an uncharacteristic drop by DeVonta Smith that would’ve ended the game. Pickett and McKee went a combined 40-of-60 passing for 526 yards and five touchdowns in blowouts of their miserable NFC rivals, the Cowboys and Giants. But it should be mentioned that the Eagles exploited an injury-riddled Cowboys secondary fielding its eighth-string cornerback and the Giants pulled starting cornerback Deonte Banks in the middle of a meaningless game.
Neither Pickett nor McKee has proven himself to be a passable replacement for Hurts in the zone-read concepts that help prevent defenses from zeroing in on Saquon Barkley. It’s a core component of the NFL’s second-ranked rushing attack — particularly in the red zone. When Hurts and Barkley premiered their partnership against the Packers, Barkley scored both of his rushing touchdowns on zone-read runs and recorded 98 of his 109 yards within the concept.
First Barkley touchdown
Second Barkley touchdown
The Packers wield a fifth-ranked defense that’s received a recent boost from rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, a second-round pick who only played 11 snaps in the opener against the Eagles. Cooper told reporters Thursday that he’s come a “long, long way” since Week 1. He finished the season with a four-game stretch in which he logged eight tackles for loss, a sack, an interception and was named the NFC’s defensive rookie of the month.
Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said the Packers have certainly “evolved” since their first game. Still, a warning from that 34-29 win remains. The Packers scored 9 points off three turnovers. Hurts threw two interceptions. Moore said, “We were fortunate to come out of that thing with a win.” The Packers, who rank fourth with 31 takeaways, will be eyeing Hurts again. But the quarterback has thrown just one interception in his last 12 games — ball security Moore has often heralded and can partly be attributed to the offense’s further commitment to its run-oriented dynamic since the Week 5 bye.
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Nick Sirianni repeated Wednesday that he wasn’t concerned about any potential rust with Hurts returning to football activities. The fourth-year head coach added Hurts is “always working on different things” behind the scenes such as “self-scouting” and researching future opponents to get “himself ready to play the opponent.” The Eagles learned they were playing the Packers last Sunday. Hurts returned to practice in time for the installation of the team’s game plan.
Several Eagles expressed support for Hurts and his return. Barkley said Hurts has “been a key factor” in keeping the team focused “on the little things and preparation.” He’s confident the quarterback is doing that. They’ve long set their sights on a Super Bowl run. Barkley said they talked about their postseason expectations in the offseason. They reinforced their standard during throwing sessions and repeated it during phone calls.
“These opportunities, you kind of plan on it,” said Barkley, who finished the season with a team-record 2,005 rushing yards in 16 games. “This is what you expected. This is why I came here. This (is a) team (that), two years ago, (went) to the Super Bowl, and last year, went to the playoffs. So, for me, it’s how can I add? And what can I do? The level of play that I had in the regular season, hopefully (I) continue to expand on that for the sake of the team.”
(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
