Jalen Hurts is dealing with another in-season injury: Should Eagles fans be worried?
Maybe we shouldn't worry. After all, injuries are an ugly part of the game, right? It's Week 8 of the 2023-2024 Philadelphia Eagles season, and there isn't anyone in the locker room, from the guys on the active 53-man roster to the 16 members of their practice squad that isn't dealing with something.
We could say that, and we'd be correct. Still, injuries sustained by the face of the franchise/starting quarterback are always worthy of a more thorough discussion though.
If you're unaware, Jalen Hurts played the second half of Philly's Week 7 game versus the Miami Dolphins while wearing a brace. He wasn't hurt during the game. Some speculate that he has been dealing with something since the Eagles/Los Angeles Rams game, which could have explained a poor performance versus the New York Jets. No one truly knows though, and the Eagles won't tell us.
Jalen Hurts has been nicked up before. He walked out of his first-ever playoff game in a walking boot. This came after he injured his ankle on November 28th of 2021 versus the Giants and sat out the following week’s game versus the crosstown Jets.
He also missed two games last season with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. Now, there's a knee issue. Hurts' style of play has always given us cause to believe that injuries could occur. There's just one problem. He has never been injured this early.
How worried should we be about the most recent Jalen Hurts injury?
Maybe this is just one of those good news versus bad news scenarios. Maybe that's all the effort that we should exhaust in weighing how we feel about the City of Brotherly Love's most talked about knee. Then again, maybe we should be asking questions about durability.
The good news is Jalen Hurts is expected to play in Week 8 versus the Washington Commanders. The bad news is, after discussing the ankle in 2021 and the shoulder injury in 2022, we're right back to discussing the possibility of Philly's QB1 having to sit games out because, folks, NO ONE WANTS TO SEE MARCUS MARIOTA PLAY.
So, the short answer to whether or not we should worry about Jalen Hurts injury is 'yes'. It's early in the season. In Week 8. Philly travels to Landover, Maryland to tackle a divisional rival in the Washington Commanders. Then, in Week 8, they face another in the Dallas Cowboys.
Philly is off in Week 10 before facing a murderer's row from Week 11 to Week 15. This team's best chances of winning the NFC come with having Jalen Hurts on the field. That helps determine playoff positioning and other things.
The extent of his injury, more than likely, will be learned during the coming weeks, but here's where we can guarantee. Fingers are crossed all over Eagles Nation that this isn't serious and that he doesn't miss a tremendous amount of time.