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Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said he has not thrown a football since injuring his right middle finger in last Sunday’s 27-10 loss to the New York Giants, but that he’s “progressing in the right way” toward Monday’s wild-card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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“I have not (attempted to throw since),” he said at a news conference Thursday. “Obviously leaving that game and attempting to go back in that game probably was not physically the best idea. Not having much control over the things that I wanted to do. But time will tell with that.”
Hurts injured his finger while throwing a fourth-and-3 pass to tight end Dallas Goedert near the start of the second quarter. He went to the blue tent and was looked at by trainers before going back into the game. Hurts finished 7-of-16 passing for 55 yards and an interception before being replaced by Marcus Mariota prior to halftime.
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The Eagles, the NFC’s No. 5 seed, will travel to face the Buccaneers on Monday. After beginning the season 10-1, Philadelphia is 1-5 since.
Hurts has thrown for 3,858 yards, 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions this season.
Eagles limping into postseason
The margin of error for the Eagles was already quite slim. So, it certainly doesn’t help that their star quarterback is still facing challenges throwing a football.
It’s also not encouraging that Hurts admitted that it was a mistake that he returned to the game for two more drives after popping out the middle finger of his throwing hand in the second quarter of Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants.
Hurts said immediately after the game that the injury was a “freak thing” and that he’d never experienced something like that. On Thursday, Hurts added that his finger hurt more the day after the game.
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While it isn’t too surprising that Hurts hasn’t thrown a football yet this week (since the Eagles, who altered their schedule with the upcoming Monday night game against the Bucs, didn’t begin practicing until Thursday), it will certainly be notable how effective the quarterback handles the ball after resting his hand for several days.
Hurts wore a glove on his right hand during Thursday’s media viewing of practice, which only includes warmups and a few individual drills. Hurts didn’t participate in ball security drills but threw a few passes before the practice was closed to the media.
Unfortunately for Hurts, playing hurt in the playoffs isn’t anything new. He’s managed some form of injury in all three of his postseason runs so far in his career. In 2021, he battled an ankle injury that required offseason surgery. In 2022, he played through shoulder pain after separating the joint during the regular season. How would Hurts compare how he feels this time around to those other instances?
“I guess we’ll base it off the result,” Hurts said. — Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer
Required reading
- Can the Eagles be revived against the Bucs? Analyzing two major questions
- NFL QB postseason EPA rankings: Jordan Love surging; Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes falling
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
