PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts has the type of street cred that can only be earned when the going gets tough and the heat is on.
Another prime example of this came just before halftime on Sunday at The Linc, when the typically rabid throng of Philadelphia Eagles fans was suddenly hushed by the sight of their quarterback limping to the sideline.
Hurts was dazed by a violent sequence as a blocker crashed into the side of his already tender left knee, an instant before Dallas Cowboys quarterback killer Micah Parsons dumped him for a sack.
Ouch.
Yet while the fans may have held their collective breath, it appears that Hurts’ teammates barely batted an eye.
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“I kind of saw him limping off the field,” Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson said after a survival of a 28-23 victory. “After I saw him in the locker room at halftime, I knew he’d be OK.”
On the other side of the room, Hurts’ most prolific target, A.J. Brown, was similarly chill.
“If he can get up and walk off, he’s OK,” Brown said.
They were hardly trying to minimize Hurts’ pain or the scare inflicted on Eagles faithful. No, the teammates were merely expressing the confidence in their leader.
Besides, when the Eagles opened the second half, Hurts demonstrated just how much he was not totally doomed, if limited, by the knee. On the first third down, he scrambled around right end to move the sticks. Then he rolled right and threw on the run for an 11-yard completion to D’Andre Swift. On the next snap, he sat in the pocket, spotted DeVonta Smith matched in single coverage against DaRon Bland and launched a dime for a 29-yard touchdown.
“I really don’t know what to say,” Hurt offered. “It was a gritty win. A tough win.”
And a victory that allows the Eagles (8-1) to maintain the NFL’s best record as they head into a bye week. They also expanded their NFC East lead over the Cowboys (5-3) to 2 ½ games.
The latest effort was like several others this season. The Eagles hardly played their best, nearly lost, but scratched out enough at the end to survive. Not the best formula for the defending NFC champions, but better than the alternative.
“We still haven’t played a complete game,” Hurts said. “It’s always about finding a way.”
Hurts didn’t put up huge numbers, passing for 207 yards and 2 TDs. But he was plenty efficient, avoiding turnovers and posting a robust passer rating of 130.2. Like his team, he sweated out the finish.
Philadelphia flirted with a catastrophe as the Cowboys threatened to overcome an 11-point deficit in the final minutes, and it would have been just as much on the offense as it could have stained the defense. The Eagles had three possessions in the fourth quarter and didn’t make a single first down.
As Hurts put it, “We have to be better.”
Still, they have piled on a few more toughness points, led by the quarterback.
Brandon Graham, the grizzled defensive end, was struck, too, by the brief scare before halftime and Hurts’ bounceback against the backdrop of week-to-week NFL survival. He knows resilience when he sees it.
“A fighter, man,” Graham said. “I was so proud of him. I know he’s been dealing with a lot. It’s been a lot of stuff we don’t talk about; we just keep confidential. I’ve got much respect for Jalen.”
In this town, which isn’t shy about romanticizing love for hard-nosed boxers – real and cinematic – and a blue-collar toughness, the appreciation for Hurts has undoubtedly gone up a few notches in recent weeks. For weeks he has operating – complete with the Brotherly Shove sneaks – on the gimpy left knee.
This is how one adds pages to his legend as the quarterback has represented his name in more ways than one.
“He hasn’t been on the injury report because his status has never been in doubt,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Great leader. Great player. Rises to the occasion in big-time moments. That’s who he is. Whether his body’s feeling 100%, whether his body is not feeling 100% — which nobody’s body is at this particular time – he’s a warrior.”
That’s who Hurts is. Brown professed the same. That’s why he wasn’t worried when Hurts took the bang-bang collision before halftime.
“I know exactly how he’s going to respond,” Brown said. “If he can go, he’s going to go. That’s just who he is. You’re going to have to drag him off the field.”
Well, there was no use for that, at least not this week. Yet through it all, Hurts is human, too.
The man deserves a break about now.
As Hurts put it, “I don’t think the bye week could come at a better time.”
Legend or not, there is no argument to that.