Jalen Hurts will spend his Groundhog Day on the operating table, undergoing surgery to repair an ankle injury suffered against the Giants in Week 12. Hurts’ ankle sprain only shelved him one game (Gardner Minshew filled in against the Jets in Week 13), though it seemed to hamper his mobility, averaging just 32 rushing yards the rest of the season compared to 57.9 before his injury. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Hurts should be fully recovered in time for the start of OTAs this spring.
Hurts showed signs of improvement, particularly as a passer, in year two of his Eagles tenure (his first as a full-time starter), boasting a 61.3 completion percentage with 16 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a respectable 87.2 quarterback rating. Even on a bum ankle, the 2020 second-rounder still led all quarterbacks in both rushing yards (784) and rushing touchdowns (10) during the regular season.
Hurts did well leading the Eagles to the playoffs in their first year under coach Nick Sirianni, especially after getting off to an anemic 2-5 start. However, what remains unclear is whether the Eagles view him as their long-term starter with Hurts’ own teammate, Brandon Graham, admitting it’s hard to know where the team stands on any player, let alone a 23-year-old still early in his NFL development. “You just never know what the organization is thinking and which way they want to go,” Graham told WIP’s Angelo Cataldi in an interview earlier this week. “It’s never 100 percent, especially with Howie [Roseman].”
Even amid sexual misconduct allegations and an NFL investigation, the Eagles have been linked to Deshaun Watson, who the Texans plan to trade this offseason. Assuming Philadelphia stays the course with Hurts, the Eagles would be wise to bolster his supporting cast with Falcons stud Calvin Ridley (Hurts’ former teammate at Alabama) among rumored trade possibilities. Delaware native and Penn State alum Chris Godwin would also make sense if the Eagles choose to go the free agent route ($21.5 million in cap space).
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