PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts is back for the Eagles — limited at practice, for now — and with all signs pointing toward their star quarterback set to start this weekend in an NFC wild-card playoff game.
Hurts was a limited participant in practice Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a concussion in Week 16 and was expected to return for Sunday’s home game against the Green Bay Packers.
“He’s been dialed in,” offensive lineman Lane Johnson said. “He’s been limited in what he can do physically, obviously. But mentally, he’s sharp.”
The Eagles (14-3) had said nothing until Wednesday about Hurts’ health since he suffered a concussion and left a Dec. 22 game early against Washington. He missed the final two games — where backups Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee led the Eagles to victories — and coach Nick Sirianni had said only that Hurts remained in the NFL concussion protocol.
The Eagles practiced at their home stadium of Lincoln Financial Field to get better used to the environment — especially with temperatures in the 20s — ahead of the wild-card game. Hurts, who was not scheduled to meet with the media, impressed his teammates with all facets of his game in his first competitive action in weeks.
“He looked sharp, really sharp,” offensive tackle Jordan Mailata said. “A lot of energy. Out there in short-sleeves.”
Perhaps familiarity can aid the 26-year-old Hurts in his return.
Hurts was 20 of 34 for 278 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions and led the Eagles to a 34-29 victory over the Packers in the season opener.
“He’s always working on different things and getting himself ready to play the opponent, self-scouting things,” Sirianni said. “He constantly works at that.”
Hurts, who played late in the season with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand, threw for 2,903 yards this season with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. He threw only one interception after the NFC East champion Eagles returned from their Week 5 bye. Thanks to the tush push, Hurts has 14 rushing touchdowns this season.
“He’s just continued to play really, really confident while protecting the football,” offensive coordinator Kellen More said. “I think he’s done a really good job in that situation. Then a lot of the situational football stuff that comes up, I think each and every week, the two-minute, the handling four-minute situations, when you’re running the football but you still need to be — we have critical third down passes in those situations. I think he’s just done an excellent job of playing out all those situations.”
Pickett was also limited with sore ribs and could lose the backup spot this postseason to McKee. McKee got the start in the season finale and threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for two TDs on just four pass attempts a week earlier in relief of Pickett in a win over Dallas.
“Tanner did an excellent job just in the action game with the movements and some of the drop-back stuff within the action game. You know, great timing rhythm,” Moore said.
The Eagles are 4½-point favorites, per BETMGM Sportsbook.
The Packers have their own health issues at quarterback.
Jordan Love and backup Malik Willis were both dealing with injuries that affected their ability to throw the ball during the team’s loss to the Chicago Bears in last Sunday’s regular-season finale.
Love, who had numbness in his right hand after banging his right elbow on the Lambeau Field turf during the second quarter, was limited in practice Wednesday because of the injury, although he said his hand was “pretty much feeling back to normal” by the next morning.
Still, Love said his elbow was still sore on Wednesday, when he did some limited throwing and acknowledged feeling pain when he did so.
Asked if he is definitely playing on Sunday, Love replied, “We’ll see. Yeah, I’m hopeful.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
