One of the biggest plays of Monday night’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears involved Eagles backup quarterback Andy Dalton throwing a brutal drive-killing interception on 3rd-and-goal from the Chicago 2-yard line when Philadelphia was trailing 7-0 with under 6:20 left in the contest’s first half.
Dalton was on the field because Eagles starter Jalen Hurts had not yet been permitted to reenter the game even though he had passed an NFL concussion test following a massive hit. After the Eagles suffered a 27-7 loss that dropped them to 2-1 on the season, Hurts addressed that moment of the game.
Jalen Hurts “felt fine” while being checked for a concussion
“No, I was still waiting [to clear concussion protocol],” Hurts said about watching the Dalton interception from the sideline, per Cayden Steele of NJ Advance Media. “Still waiting. I was just waiting for the thumbs up. I felt fine. We already checked it. I don’t know the extent of the process. Obviously wish they could have expedited things. I felt fine.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni could have bought more time for Hurts to be cleared to return to the game had Sirianni called a timeout before Dalton snapped the football. After his team’s defeat, Sirianni suggested that uncertainty regarding Hurts’ status impacted why the coach didn’t use a timeout at that moment.
As for Hurts’ performance at the Bears, he completed 16 of 25 passes for 153 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 25 yards and a score on four carries.
Jalen Hurts knows he has to “play better ball” when he’s on the field
“Situationally, I gotta play better ball,” Hurts said after Philadelphia’s first loss of the campaign, per The Athletic. “Third down was a very big down for us, and that’s been a very big down for us in these first two games. And [Monday] we were not good enough, and I wasn’t good enough. Fourth down, I wasn’t good enough as well.”
The Eagles went 2-of-9 on third downs and 0-of-2 on fourth downs against the Bears. Hurts and Co. will look to improve the Eagles’ production in such situations when Philadelphia hosts the 1-2 Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 4. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Eagles as three-point home underdogs for that game.
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