PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said the plan was to play Jalen Hurts a series or two in the team's second preseason game against the New England Patriots, which ended up being an uninspiring 35-0 loss.
A stomach infection halted that plan, and now leads to the question of whether his planned snap count will have to increase in the Eagles' final preseason game against the New York Jets.
His planned playing time Thursday would have been similar to the 10 plays Hurts saw in their opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hurts went through pregame warmups Thursday, and we even saw him dancing a little bit during them.
But when it was time for Hurts to enter the game on the opening drive, it was Joe Flacco in the game instead.
"He just had pain in his abdomen," Sirianni said of Hurts. "For a guy like that to tell us — he’s a tough guy — so it must have been hurting him pretty good for him to let us know about that."
Sirianni revealed Hurts had this pain when arriving to Lincoln Financial Field and it continued after pregame warmups, which led to a trip to the hospital — and the following diagnosis.
"Just a stomach infection, stomach bug that was going on, that was causing some pressure in his stomach."
Fortunately, Sirianni said Hurts is going to be OK and is no longer at the hospital. Hurts also tested negative for COVID-19.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Hurts was instructed to rest at home for at least a couple days.
Hurts' sudden absence caught a lot of people off guard.
"Honestly, I really didn't notice it until the first play," rookie wide receiver DeVonta Smith said. "But, I mean, it's the NFL. It's football. Next man up."
Flacco, who hasn't been taking first-team reps this summer, finished 10-of-17 for 83 yards and one interception.
"Obviously we knew Jalen wasn’t feeling well, but when we came in from warmups they informed me that I would be going out there," Flacco said. "So, all par for the course.”
Sirianni wouldn't speculate whether Hurts would have played if this were a regular season game. He spoke about how Hurts still wanted to give it a go despite the discomfort he was feeling.
Going forward, it begs the question of how much will we see of Hurts before the September 12 opener at the Atlanta Falcons.
There is only one preseason game left, next Friday at the New York Jets.
Like this week with the Patriots, the Eagles and Jets have joint practices scheduled in North Jersey leading up to the game at MetLife Stadium.
Some like Eagles radio broadcasters Merrill Reese and Mike Quick would like Hurts, a second-year NFL player with limited experience in the league, to get live game reps before the two week gap between the preseason finale and the opener versus the Falcons.
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"It would be nice to see him play three quarters next week," Quick said on Thursday night's broadcast on 94WIP.
"A full half would be great, but coming out after halftime and getting a few snaps would not hurt."
"[The joint practices] will be very, very valuable against the Jets, but they are not — in my opinion — they are not the same as an actual football game. You need game time," Reese said.
Leading up to the licking the Eagles took against the Patriots Thursday night, Sirianni spoke glowingly about how the joint practices with New England were as close to a game as you get in practice. He has also emphasized the importance of preseason games, and the benefits they provide.
Assuming Hurts is healthy enough to play next Friday, has Sirianni seen enough to let him go into the season with only 10 plays in preseason games? Or, will Hurts receive a jump in reps during the game so he's good to go during the second weekend of September?
"We'll evaluate how he's feeling these next couple days," Sirianni said Thursday night.
"But again, we get two practices against the Jets. I've said before, those are like games. Those intersquad practices are like games, so he's going to be able to get two more there. So, I'm pretty confident that we'll get a lot of good work against the Jets."
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