The status of Eagles star quarterback Jalen Hurts following his first career concussion has dominated conversation in Philadelphia over the past couple of weeks, but now that he's been cleared to get back on the field, Hurts is ready to move past the concussion and put the full focus on the Green Bay Packers, who the Eagles will host in the Wild Card round of the playoffs on Sunday.
The concussion disrupted Jalen Hurts' routine, but he's ready to bounce back
“Obviously, we’ve gone through three weeks of Coach [Nick Sirianni] coming up here saying, ‘He’s still in protocol,’ and now he’s saying, ‘He’s not in protocol anymore,’ so I don’t think there’s anything else to talk about with that," Hurts said during his first media availability since the injury. "I’m thankful that the refs, and everyone, did what they were supposed to do in that time. They made the right decision in that moment, and I’m thankful and blessed for that. Now, I’m ready to go, and I think we move forward to the Green Bay Packers."
Hurts was peppered with questions about the concussion, and though he's clearly ready to move on, he did acknowledge that the injury disrupted his routine, which can be difficult for an extremely disciplined player.
“You go through a routine everyday, and being out of that is challenging," Hurts said. "Obviously, dealing with different symptoms ain’t fun, either.”
There's some concern that Hurts will have to knock off a bit of dust early against the Packers after being sidelined for a few weeks, but hopefully that won't be too much of an issue. Last time we saw Hurts out on the field for a full game, he has one of his better performances of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns in that game. He also had a rushing touchdown in Philadelphia's 27-13 victory.
Speaking of victory, the Eagles pulled out a 34-29 win over the Packers back in Week 1. But that contest took place several months ago -- and in a different country -- and Hurts thinks that the Birds are a much different team at this point in the season than they were in the opening week, which is true. After all, the team didn't truly establish its identity as a dominant defensive and running team until after the bye in Week 5.
"The reality is, we've seen how we've evolved and we've progressed over the year," Hurts said. "So I think in all three phases we're a whole different team. We're not the same team they saw in Brazil, in terms of how efficient we've been in the run, how deadly Saquon [Barkley] has been and how we've been able to play really good defense."
Now that the regular season is over, the Eagles will look to continue their dominant two-way play. Having their star quarterback back in action should help.