Jalen Hurts plays through ‘flu-like symptoms’ in an Eagles win, but something is ailing the passing game

TAMPA, Fla. — Through sniffles and congestion, a hushed Jalen Hurts confirmed that he was dealing with “flu-like symptoms” in the Eagles’ 25-11 victory over the Buccaneers.

The quarterback downplayed how the illness affected his uneven performance, however, upon his return to the site of one of the worst games of his young NFL career.

“I just executed,” Hurts said. “This isn’t the first time where I dealt with this and I had to play with something like this. And it always happens on Monday night, for whatever reason.”

Hurts was referencing last November’s meeting with the Commanders at home. He wasn’t at his best that evening and the Eagles suffered their first loss of the season. But they won this game even though Hurts has yet to play at the level he did for most of 2022, even against Washington.

That’s the good news. If there’s bad news — or potentially bad news — it’s that the 3-0 Eagles might not be able to overcome the inconsistencies of their quarterback and their passing offense against better opponents.

That test might not come until they host the Dolphins on Oct. 22. But the Eagles’ next three opponents — the Commanders, Rams, and Jets — at least have competent defenses. And it’s not as if Hurts has excelled vs. the Patriots, Vikings, and Bucs thus far.

Without knowing how much impact his sickness had on his execution, though, it’s difficult to be overly critical about Monday night. Hurts tossed two interceptions and had other errant throws, but he also completed 23 of 37 passes (62%) for 277 yards and a spellbinding 34-yard touchdown to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus.

» READ MORE: D’Andre Swift and Olamide Zaccheaus are old St. Joe’s Prep teammates jump-starting the Eagles offense

Hurts struggled again to gain much traction on the ground, but he had several tush-push sneaks — one for a score — and was sacked only once. The halftime timing of the ESPN report about his illness was curious, but he exorcized any leftover demons there might have been from two losses to the Bucs two seasons ago, the last at Raymond James Stadium in the playoffs.

“It’s a feeling I haven’t forgotten,” Hurts said of the latter setback in which he also threw two picks. “Things have gone very well since.”

That season-ending defeat was just 20 months ago, but Hurts has made strides, even if he didn’t always show it Monday night. There were enough glimpses, particularly on the drive that ended with Zaccheaus’ touchdown.

On that throw, Hurts hung in the pocket, reset himself with slight movements, and lofted a strike to the slot receiver just before getting pounded.

“I think the last time we played them I didn’t do a great job of truly being patient in the pocket,” he said. “And so, I feel like that was something that I took a step in tonight. With those steps you take forward, you want to learn from everything.”

But the interceptions, had it not been for Sean Desai’s defense’s stellar outing, might have otherwise proved costly. There was an obvious miscommunication between Hurts and running back D’Andre Swift on the first. And on the second, he tossed one up deep to receiver DeVonta Smith that was a smidgen late.

“Obviously, he’s going to want those interceptions back,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I thought the guy [Dee Delaney] made a really good play on the second interception. Being on the same page with the first interception — again, it’s always about communication, being on the same page.

“But I thought he took completions that were being given to him, spread the ball around. … I thought he did a good job of managing the game.”

A cynic might say the Eagles didn’t pay Hurts $255 million this offseason to “manage the game,” but his health and the off-and-on rain might have contributed to the balanced offense. The Eagles’ early success on the ground screamed for more runs on the first two drives into the red zone.

» READ MORE: The Eagles didn’t sign Jalen Hurts to be a bystander. Nick Sirianni and Brian Johnson must get him going.

Play-caller Brian Johnson went to the air, though, and Hurts & Co. were unable to deliver and the offense settled for just three points. There were some chunk passes to receiver A.J. Brown overall, but it was Swift’s explosive runs in the third quarter that separated the Eagles.

And it was a 9-minute, 22-second possession — most of it on the ground — that closed out Tampa Bay.

“It’s easy to look at the box score where we are in the season right now and say, ‘Well, yeah, the pass offense …’” Sirianni said. “But these last couple games, we’ve been up and the flow of the game changes when you are that way.”

There are unknowns, of course, behind the scenes and in the huddle. Tackle Jordan Mailata credited Hurts and center Jason Kelce for picking up blitzes presnap and either resetting protections or checking to other plays.

On the first pass to Brown — not planned after his sideline tiff with Hurts in Week 2, Sirianni said — there was an audible based on the coverage. Brown did end up with nine catches for 131 yards, and Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert combined for nine catches for 69 yards, but even Hurts sounded hard-pressed to sugarcoat his passing.

He knows there will come a time when the offense will have to rely solely on his arm, especially trailing late in a two-minute situation.

“I’ll continue to learn from the mistakes that were made today,” he said. “I’ll sit here and say it till my time here is done: Keep the main thing, the main thing … and soak up as much as I can. Each experience is a new tool and a new page of knowledge you can learn from.”

The 25-year-old Hurts said something similar following the 31-15 loss to the Bucs in the first round of the 2021 postseason. He had been playing through an ankle injury in the latter part of the season and hid its effects until he wore a walking boot into the postgame news conference.

Asked almost two years later in the same room how his illness might have impacted him, Hurts gave a two-word answer:

“We won.”