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Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts was sent to a Philadelphia Hospital and diagnosed with a stomach infection and told to stay at home to rest for at least two days. He tested negative for Covid.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 20, 2021
Well, we all know things can never be easy in Philadelphia. Jalen Hurts was pulled prior to the game last night with a stomach infection/abdomen pain forcing Joe Flacco and Nick Mullens to split QB duties for the rest of their battle against the Patriots.
This was Jalen Hurts during pregame warmups and looked good
Eagles say he came down with an illness. Joe Flacco started pic.twitter.com/qttV7OG2MI
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) August 19, 2021
Jalen was looking HEALTHY during warmups: having fun, dancing and showing off the swagger that has the Philly media talking about the recent outpouring of support from within the locker room. So when it was announced that he was sent back into the locker room and then the hospital, questions of how things could change quickly started to arise.
Will we ever know what actually happened last night? Maybe not. Lamar Jackson had a similar issue with a stomach bug during a game last season, so this type of thing isn’t completely out of the ordinary.
But should we be concerned about this for Jalen Hurts? No, not for his illness (hope you’re feeling better, QB1), but for his lack of reps with his full arsenal of weapons. Last night was a golden opportunity to showcase his ability to accurately throw the ball to his young receivers against an NFL defense. Instead, Flacco took the start before handing off QB duty to Mullens, leaving the team (and fans) feeling no better about the Eagles future at QB.
.@JalenHurts on the money to @goedert33! #PITvsPHI pic.twitter.com/MIhvxS7wjo
— NFL (@NFL) August 12, 2021
Hurts has had a solid camp and played okay against the Steelers in pre-season Week 1. He has also dominated (used loosely) joint practice with the Patriots the past week, so hopefully he can return to practice soon and get some reps in for Week 3 of Preseason.
I personally think Jalen is going to do a hell of a job as QB1 of the Eagles this year. He has the leadership ability, athleticism, competitive fire, and football IQ to be a very good NFL QB and now that he has weapons around him, I expect a jump in accuracy similar to that of Josh Allen his sophomore year. Jalen is the future and although it may take some time, he’s going to be the QB in Philly for a long time.
This was an absolute dart from Jalen Hurts over the middle to Greg Ward.#Eagles (🎥 @Tim_McManus)pic.twitter.com/UjIXW9Igpw
— Thomas R. Petersen (@thomasrp93) August 16, 2021
As for the 35-0 loss last night? Who the hell cares. I will never forget the infamous Chip Kelly/Sam Bradford-led Eagles team absolutely decimate the Packers in the preseason circa 2015. Just take a look at this stat sheet from the Eagles 39-26 win (the Birds were up 25-0 after the first quarter), take a deep breath, and realize that getting our ass handed to us by Mac Jones and Uncle Bill doesn’t mean a single thing.
Go Birds and have a great Friday.