Eagles
Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Eagles’ season is over, plain and simple. It doesn’t matter who starts between Tanner McKee, Joe Milton, or Cole Payton. None of them has what it takes to flip this abysmal start.
If even Jalen Hurts couldn’t have this Eagles’ offense looking functional, why would any of those three other guys? I like Tanner McKee as much as the next guy; I think he’s an average backup quarterback in the NFL. But he’s not Jalen Hurts. If you didn’t know that already, you do now after watching on Sunday.
Tanner McKee is sacked by Devin LloydCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
But none of that matters. What matters is the health of Jalen Hurts. The Super Bowl MVP has blood clots, which clearly are not something to mess around with. The clots, which started in Hurts’s calf, required him to be put on injured reserve. On Monday, October 19, team doctors discovered blood clots in Hurts’s lungs. He’s done for the year.
This is not your typical season-ending injury. A torn ACL can put an athlete’s career in jeopardy, but you know that they will continue life mostly unscathed. Blood clots are different. They are life-threatening if untreated.
Sports are great. But there is life outside of sports. The Eagles say they expect Jalen to make a full recovery and to return to football activities in the future, which is amazing and the best-case-scenario. But if he can’t, that’s okay. And if you don’t think so, it’s time to find another hobby.
It’s not the time to wish harm on the Eagles’ medical staff. They might have mismanaged this situation, but it’s done now. It’s not the time to talk about Jalen Hurts’s “replacement.” There’s still a season to play, but the Eagles could acquire 30-year-old Tom Brady and still have an unwatchable offense. It’s the time to hope for Jalen Hurts’s recovery.
Football is a game of numbers. Stats are shoved in your face all the time. Passing yards this, touchdowns that. But behind those numbers are people, and Jalen Hurts is an exceptional one of those people.
Jalen Hurts could retire today and be the greatest quarterback in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s the only franchise quarterback to lead the team to a Super Bowl victory. Nobody else is even in his realm.
Jalen Hurts watches as Jeffrey Lurie lifts the Lombardi TrophyCredit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
But Jalen Hurts isn’t just the greatest Eagles’ quarterback of all time. He’s also a husband, a son, a brother, a friend, a leader, a philanthropist, and an inspiration.
If you’re an Eagles fan, Jalen Hurts has brought you joy. If he hasn’t, you force me to assume you’re not really an Eagles fan. I know I said there’s life outside of sports, but sometimes life sucks. The Hurts-led Eagles have been so unbelievably good. They have brightened so many lives. Playoffs in every year. Two NFC Championships. One Super Bowl.
If the Golden Era of Eagles football is gone, I have no regrets. The team shouldn’t have any either.
I’m not entirely convinced it’s over, but that’s a topic for a later time.
Jalen Hurts has given us everything. The least we can do is give him some grace as he recovers.
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I’m a high school student from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and an aspiring sports media professional. I may have only recently … More about Jonah Casel
Categorized:Eagles
