As the Eagles prepare to take on the Rams on Sunday Night Football, their QB Jalen Hurts faced an injury scare. On Wednesday, Hurts remained a limited participant because of an ankle injury. Although the very next day, he returned as a full participant. Hurts struggles with injury are a cause of concern for the Eagles as they head toward a possible Super Bowl run.

You would have to go back to 2021, when the Eagles QB first suffered an ankle sprain last into the season. Then, the next year, he found himself struggling through a shoulder injury. However, in both of those instances, Hurts didn’t allow it to get the better of him. As he continued to play with them through the postseason. Even last year, the 26-year-old looked like he suffered a lower ankle damage. But the Eagles never disclosed the details behind it.

Now, history is yet again repeating itself as Hurts is possibly heading into the playoffs with another injury. But he isn’t letting those setbacks pull him down; as Hurts shared, “I’m always having fun. Don’t let a smile fool you. Or a straight face.” Although it’s not up to you when to get injured or not, the mini-bye would have surely helped Hurts get some much-needed rest.

With him on the offense, the Eagles have won 70% of their games. So they must try to keep him healthy, as Hurts himself shared, “At this point of the year. I think it’s not about, I think it’s necessarily about me. I think it’s the mentality where we are. We’re in a phase of the year where things could very easily go bad. Well, it did last year. It didn’t end the way we wanted to. And so that’s at the top of my list.” While, it is still unlikely that the Eagles will face any late-season collapse this year. Their coach, Nick Sirianni, has set themselves for an explosive season, starting with their O-line.

Amid Jalen Hurts injury scare, Nick Sirianni opens up on their explosive offense

After 11 weeks of NFL action, the Eagles are on course for a playoff run with 8 wins out of their first 10 games. But it wasn’t always so smooth sailing as the Eagles at one point were 2-2 after losing to the Bucs. That 33-16 defeat in Tampa Bay brought back grizzly memories of their 1-6 collapse to end their 2023 season. While Sirianni had to watch his two coordinators, Brian Johnson and Sean Desai, get fired, pressure started to mount on his job in Philly.

However, it was his offensive line led by Jordan Mailata, whose words did the trick for the Eagles’ resurgence. As Mailata shared, “It was just reminding him. You have weapons in the air, on the ground and you have a hell of an O-line. We wanted to lead with. Hey, before Saquon got, you had us. Now you have us and Saquon. So use it.” And boy, they did, as the Eagles are averaging a running game of 40.8 times per clash. They are up by at least 30 yards before the bye week.

Meanwhile, Barkley is giving some tough competition to Ravens RB Derrick Henry. As he ranked second in rushing yards with 991 before the Commanders clash. Their 14 explosive plays of 40+ yards and the defense that has surrendered the lowest big plays are doing the trick. When Sirianni was asked to give his thoughts behind the offensive-playing success, the Eagles head coach expressed, “It is always going to start up front with the protection. It’s going to go everyone being on the same page as far as having a hat for a hat.”

He even went on to reiterate the importance of Jalen alongside Barkley and OC Kellen Moore, “Jalen checks it down, and Saquon gets it. Then Kellen dialing it up at the specific time, and the coaches coaching it up. So all those things happen. We’ll look to continue to have success on those explosive plays.” As for Philly, it seems like exciting times are ahead as their team is set to leave behind last season’s horror. And rewrite a new chapter with Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley leading the charge.