Eagles escaped disaster but must be more careful with Hurts

It looks like they escaped disaster this time. Next time, they might not be so lucky.

The Eagles have been pushing their luck all year with Jalen Hurts. Too many carries, too many hits.

Hurts has 156 official rushing attempts this year, 3^rd-most in NFL history behind Lamar Jackson’s 176 in 2019 and 159 in 2020. Even if you take out his 16 kneel downs, he’s still averaging 10 carries per game.

And it’s easy to understand the temptation.

Hurts is a hell of a weapon with his legs.

He’s only 24 and in his second season as a starter, and he’s already one of only four quarterbacks in NFL history with consecutive seasons with 700 rushing yards. He’s one of only two quarterbacks with 10 or more touchdowns twice in his career. His 13 rushing TDs this year are second-most ever by a quarterback.

So it’s understandable that head coach Nick Sirianni and play caller Shane Steichen want to take advantage of Hurts’ running ability. He’s such a weapon and such a playmaker when the ball is in his hands. His running ability opens things up for Miles Sanders and it opens things up for the passing game.

But this year it’s been too much, and this isn’t just a reaction to the shoulder injury that’s likely going to sideline him for at least the Cowboys game. It’s something we’ve been saying all year.

It’s too much.

Hurts has taken a beating this year, and Sirianni and Steichen have to do a better job balancing his unique running ability with keeping him as safe as possible. Because nothing is more important than getting Hurts to the postseason healthy, and this injury could have easily ended his season.

Hurts is such a ferocious competitor that he’s going to battle for that extra yard, fight for the first down, take on linebackers and safeties and defensive tackles as he tries to plow into the end zone.

And he’s usually successful.

So you keep dialing it up.

Now, this is complicated because there are a lot of different ways Hurts can run with the ball. There are zone reads, RPO runs, designed runs, scrambles when the pocket breaks down, keepers on 4^th-and-1. And it’s impossible to know exactly how many of each have gone into those 140 carries this year. It’s not like Steichen called 17 running plays for Hurts Sunday in Chicago.

But I do know this: When Hurts has more than twice as many carries in a first half as Miles Sanders, it doesn't make sense. And that’s what happened Sunday.

Nobody wants the Eagles to shut Hurts down as a runner, but Sanders is having a terrific season and went into Sunday’s game just 15 yards behind college teammate Saquon Barkley for the NFC rushing lead. Yet Hurts had six more rushing attempts in the win over the Bears than Sanders. And Sanders even has a higher rushing average than Hurts – 5.2 for Sanders, 4.8 for Hurts.

It doesn’t make sense.

And really, Hurts needs to take some responsibility in all of this, too. He needs to be smarter at times in the pocket, he needs to learn when it makes sense to fight for an extra half yard and when it doesn’t, he needs to get back to sometimes just throwing the ball safely out of bounds instead of running into a sea of defenders.

Now, quarterbacks get hurt, and sometimes it’s unavoidable. But the more Hurts is out there running around, the greater the odds something bad is going to happen.

I get the temptation. I get why Sirianni and Steichen want the ball in Hurts’ hands. But this offense can function at a high level without Hurts running 17 times. He’s grown so much as a passer, and with this offensive line, the pocket is a much safer place to be than the open field.

There’s always going to be a place for Hurts to make plays with his legs. But Sirianni and Steichen – and Hurts – need to figure out a smarter balance between risk and reward.

You'll never eliminate the chance of an injury. But you can sure reduce it.

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