Jalen Hurts feeling refreshed as the Eagles prepare to face the Chiefs in a rematch of the Super Bowl
Hurts has been hobbled in recent weeks, but rest and recovery during the bye week has him feeling good heading into the game at Kansas City.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/LNEBZ4TQPFDVTCGO3SJLUMJC44.jpg)
Shortly after the Eagles defeated the Cowboys in Week 9, quarterback Jalen Hurts acknowledged his accumulated in-season battle wounds when he said, “Selfishly, I don’t think the bye week could have come at a better time.”
Upon his return to the practice field on Thursday, Hurts reiterated that sentiment from the NovaCare Complex. The team’s week off served as a necessary refresher for many hobbled players, including Hurts, who had played through a reported bone bruise injury to his right knee.
Hurts acknowledged that he has ditched the soft knee brace that he sported in previous games leading up to the break.
Following a 10-day hiatus, the Eagles play their first of their remaining eight games Monday night, when they visit the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII. Hurts was brilliant during that mid-February contest, finishing with a combined 374 yards and four total touchdowns (three rushing, one passing) in a 38-35 defeat.
“The bye couldn’t have come at a better time,” he said. “I feel like personally it was a good week. I definitely got some [recovery] time out of it.”
» READ MORE: Eagles slight underdogs in Super Bowl rematch with Chiefs on ‘Monday Night Football’
The 25-year-old quarterback insists that he doesn’t require any extra motivation on any given week. But it was revealed during training camp that his iPhone wallpaper was a photo taken moments after the Eagles’ loss in the Super Bowl as he walked off the field amid red and yellow Chiefs-colored confetti showered from above.
“I think everybody is internally motivated by different things,” Hurts said. “Some people, external things will motivate them. For us, it’s just focus on the things that we can control. It’s as simple as that.
“This will be the third year in a row that we’ve played them. They always put a tough challenge on tape. They fly to the ball. They have a great secondary. They play at a very high level. It’s a big challenge of us.”
Through the first half of the season, the Eagles haven’t won games in a dominant fashion as they did one year ago. But the offense still ranks among the league’s best across nearly every major statistical category.
The Eagles are most efficient in clutch offensive situations, ranking first in the NFL in third-down (50%) and fourth-down (76.5%) success. Hurts’ several impressive passing performances with receiver A.J. Brown have paced the offense, but Hurts also has experienced an uptick in turnovers (eight interceptions, four fumbles lost).
In addition to using the past week-plus to recover, Hurts, under the direction of Nick Sirianni’s coaching staff, conducted a self-scout analysis of his overall performance.
“The biggest takeaway is the way we play, how we’re able to protect the ball, and still be efficient and make big plays – I think those things make us a really tough team to deal with,” he said.
“It’s just a matter of being consistent. It’s a common word that comes up for every team in the NFL. But being consistent, honing in on the details, understanding the fundamentals of every play, challenging yourself to do that every play. It’s always chasing that progress, not necessarily the perfection of it, just trying to be consistent in it.”
» READ MORE: The Eagles’ Tush Push got a helpful nudge from a Scottish rugby coach
Eagles on the mend, Nakobe Dean placed on IR
Right guard Cam Jurgens (foot) has returned to full on practice. It appears that Jurgens will return to the starting lineup at Kansas City.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean has gone on injured reserve for the second time this season after surgery on a Lisfranc injury. Since being selected in the third round of the 2022 draft out of Georgia, Dean has appeared in 22 career games with 43 tackles.
The Eagles have opened safety Justin Evans’ 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve. Evans has missed the past four games with a knee injury. He would provide depth behind starters Reed Blankenship and Kevin Byard, in addition to slotting in along with his ability to slot in on special teams.