Eagles QB Jalen Hurts to return to practice Wednesday, take key step toward playing vs. Packers

EJ Smith, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 8, 2025

Published in Football

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PHILADELPHIA — Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Wednesday that Jalen Hurts will return to practice, marking a significant step for the quarterback’s progress through the concussion protocol.

After leaving the team’s loss to the Washington Commanders on Dec. 22 with the concussion, Hurts has missed all of the Eagles’ practices and each of the last two games. Sirianni wouldn’t say whether Hurts would have any limitations in his return.

“He’ll be out there today,” said Sirianni, who decided to hold a padded practice at Lincoln Financial Field instead of the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday. “We’ll get you the injury report after practice, we’ll see how it goes.”

Per NFL rules, Hurts will need to integrate back into team sessions without showing concussion-like symptoms and pass an evaluation by an independent neurological consultant to clear the protocol in time for this Sunday’s wild-card round game against the Green Bay Packers at Lincoln Financial Field.

While Sirianni didn’t offer many details regarding Hurts’ status for Sunday, the early signs suggest he is making meaningful progress toward returning. Hurts was present at the team’s Saturday walk-through the day before the team’s regular-season finale against the New York Giants. Then on Tuesday, the Eagles waived quarterback Ian Book from the active roster, leaving them with the quarterback trio they had for most of the season consisting of Hurts, Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee.

Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said Tuesday that he’s had conversations with Hurts about the upcoming game against the Packers as well.

“Yeah,” Moore said. “Certainly all of us have been in continuous conversations. We always are and so, excited about that.”

Pickett started in place of Hurts for the team’s Week 17 win over the Dallas Cowboys, but left midway through the game with a ribs injury and was among the players rested for last Sunday’s game against the Giants. McKee got his first career start as a result and led the team to a 20-13 win over the division rival.

If Hurts can clear protocol later this week, he will enter the team’s first playoff matchup after missing the majority of the last three games. He finished the regular season with 2,903 passing yards while completing a career-high 68.7% of his passes. He had 18 passing touchdowns, 14 rushing touchdowns and five interceptions in 15 games.

Hurts similarly missed two games with a sprained right shoulder late in the 2022-23 season before returning for the regular-season finale that preceded the team’s Super Bowl run. Hurts was also dealing with a broken left ring finger from earlier in this season, which Sirianni noted has also recovered during Hurts’ absence.

Sirianni said he isn’t concerned about rust becoming a factor for Hurts, citing the team’s practice intensity as reason to believe he’ll be ready for game action after the layoff.

“This is why you go through the process of practicing,” Sirianni said. “All the things that you do at practice, to get on the same page and do everything there. We feel like we practice at a very high intensity level and this is why you go out there and do those things.”

If Hurts is eventually cleared, the Eagles will enter the postseason with all 22 of their Week 1 starters healthy.

They had similar injury luck in the 2022-23 season, but have managed to do so again despite an increase in the intensity of the weekly schedule that included fewer days off and more padded practices implemented by Sirianni throughout the season.

“Sure, luck has something to do with it,” Sirianni said. “There are some unlucky situations that happen where you lose guys, but you can’t say enough about how much the guys have put into taking care of their bodies.”