‘He’s got fight’: Jalen Hurts takes a beating and keeps on ticking as the Eagles survive the pesky Bears

CHICAGO — Late in the third quarter, with the Eagles clinging to a 17-13 lead, Jalen Hurts once again pulled the ball from his running back and ran. He probably should have handed off, and after just a 3-yard gain, got sandwiched in between two Bears defensive linemen.

Hurts had popped up off the frozen tundra at Soldier Field after each of the previous hits he endured. But the quarterback remained on his back several beats longer this time, prompting concern from his teammates and Eagles fans everywhere.

“The one that scared me. He just laid there,” Eagles tackle Jordan Mailata said. “I ran over and said, ‘Stay down.’ And he said, ‘Pick me the [bleep] up.’ And I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ And he goes straight back to the huddle.

“He’s got [bleeping] fight, man. He’s grit. He’s everything we want.”

Hurts acknowledged the beating he took from Chicago. But he shrugged off the extra moment he needed before rising.

“It wasn’t the first time I’ve been slow,” he said, “it won’t be the last.”

The possession didn’t end in points — Jake Elliott doinked a 38-yard field goal attempt off the right upright — but Hurts would drive the offense to a touchdown on the next series to pull ahead two scores before the Eagles persevered against the pesky Bears, 25-20, on Sunday.

They moved to 13-1 and need only a victory at the 10-4 Cowboys on Christmas Eve to win the NFC East, and, most importantly, secure the No. 1 seed in the postseason. The Eagles have myriad paths to a first-round bye, but they likely would prefer to rest Hurts and their starters the final two games.

First, they have a showdown in Dallas with one less day of rest.

“Yeah, he’ll be sore from that,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of the pounding Hurts took. “We’ll be on a short week. But he’s tough.”

Hurts had easily his worst half of the season, ending two of the offense’s first four drives with interceptions. It was the first time he had thrown two picks in a game since the January playoff loss at the Buccaneers.

He blamed some of his early struggles on how he handled the frigid conditions. The game-time temperature was 18 degrees with a wind chill factor of 3.

“I couldn’t feel my hands,” Hurts said. “It was very cold. Didn’t have really good vision on the field, personally.”

But the 24-year-old was resilient. He engineered consecutive touchdown drives on the Eagles’ last possession of the first half and their first of the second. And he finished off both by crossing the goal line on the ground — on a check-to draw play and then a sneak — to take a 17-6 lead.

The Eagles had seemingly seized control against an opponent that not many thought could keep pace. But when Miles Sanders fumbled for the first time this season — for the third turnover of the game — the Bears pounced and narrowed the margin to four points midway through the third.

Sirianni said the offensive game plan was to throw the ball against an inexperienced secondary. The Bears came in with one of the lowest-rated pass defenses in the NFL. But they had been unable to stop the run, as well. And yet, Sanders didn’t get a carry until the Eagles’ fifth series.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Bears analysis: The Birds survived in Chicago, coming away with an ugly 25-20 win

Play caller Shane Steichen had dialed up zone reads and run-pass option plays in which Hurts opted to keep or throw. But the imbalance meant that the Bears had a 78-22 percent advantage in time of possession up until that point.

Hurts’ ability to run has been pivotal to the Eagles’ success. He’s a plus-one in the run game and creates space for the running backs. But the hits are piling up. He rushed 17 times (for 61 yards) on Sunday and is on pace to set the NFL mark for carries by a quarterback in one season.

“You always get nervous,” Eagles guard Landon Dickerson said. “That’s a blessing and a curse. He’s got the ability to extend plays and get yards. That’s a great thing to have — a quarterback that can do that. It’s also scary. You never want to see your quarterback get hit.”

Sirianni and Steichen had Hurts drop to throw plenty. He completed 22 of 37 passes for 315 yards as wide receivers A.J. Brown (9 catches for a career-high 181 yards) and DeVonta Smith (5 catches for 126 yards) eclipsed the century mark as a pair for the second time in three games.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith feed off each other’s energy, combine for a big day against the Bears

But the Eagles likely don’t win without Hurts’ mobility. On the possession before the break, on third-and-8 at the Bears 22, Hurts read a safety blitz pre-snap and checked to a draw. He waltzed into the end zone untouched.

And he continued to convert sneaks — two for scores. He needs only one more rushing touchdown to match Cam Newton’s quarterback NFL record of 14 in one season.

But Sunday clearly took its toll. After the second sneak into the end zone, Hurts’ number was called again on the two-point conversion. He faked the plunge and bounced around the edge over the goal line, but took another blow.

He slowly rose, with the help again of his offensive linemen, tossed the ball to the side, and ambled to the sideline before — seemingly noticing his slower-than-usual stride — picking up the pace into his patented jog.

“He’s resilient,” Dickerson said. “He comes back. He fixes his mistakes. He battles through things. I really admire him for doing that. It doesn’t matter the situation he’s put in, he’s going to move on to the next play.”

Hurts’ unfazed demeanor has become a social media meme. He hardly ever shows outward emotion. It’s his personality, he claims, but he must also know how it can galvanize a team.

On Wednesday, he chastised the Philadelphia media because he wasn’t asked about the Bears defense. He did the same in October ahead of the Cardinals game.

“You didn’t ask me about the defense. You didn’t ask me about any of these things,” Hurts said. “In the two games that we didn’t get asked any questions about the other team, they’ve been really close games, huh?”

He continued: “I know that this is a time where this team — everybody’s trying to break it up. Everybody’s waiting to see you fail.”

The Cowboys await. But Hurts said he was going to relax first after all the hits.

“I feel good listening to my Anita Baker,” said Hurts, who took to the podium with the musician’s soul music playing on his phone. “I’m going to get me some sweets on the plane ride home, watch the tape, learn from it, and move forward.”