Ahead of the NFC Championship Game on Sunday between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders, one of the biggest topics around the game has been the health of Eagles star quarterback Jalen Hurts. But from the Commanders’ perspective, they do not plan on taking it easy on the former Pro Bowler.
Hurts, who suffered a knee injury, has appeared on the Eagles injury report for much of the week, appearing as a limited participant in practice for most of the week.
All week, Hurts has been adamant that the injury will not hold him out of Sunday’s game. But it obviously remains to be seen whether he will be at 100 percent or look hampered when he does take the field against the Commanders.
Whether he is healthy or not, Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt outlined the gameplan to deal with Hurts during a press conference on Thursday, detailing that he plans on having his players “hit Hurts like a running back”.
“The one thing is, is if he’s gonna run the ball and the coordinator makes a decision for him to run the ball, we’re gonna treat him like a running back,” Whitt told reporters. “And we’re gonna hit him that way. You know, so that’s their decision if they wanna get him hit the way he gets hit. If they don’t, they’ll keep him in the pocket. So that’s what we’re gonna do.”
Hurts has proven to be one of the most physically imposing quarterbacks in all of football when healthy. So it’s fairly understandable as to why Whitt wants to contain Hurts to being a pocket passer.
Still, this is essentially a threat from Whitt to the Eagles coaching staff for Sunday’s game whether Whitt meant for it to be or not.
If they are going to have Hurts go out and play at less than 100 percent, Hurts may very well re-aggravate his injury if the Commanders are indeed being as physical as possible with him.
Luckily, it does look like Hurts’ health is improving as the week goes on. On Thursday, the Eagles listed Hurts as a full participant at practice for the first time all week long.
Currently, the Eagles sit as 6-point favorites on the majority of sportsbooks. But if Whitt does indeed live up to his threat and hit Hurts like a running back, we could very well see the Commanders make this game far closer than it appears on paper.
