Nick Sirianni tells us all we need to know about Jalen Hurts status
by John Kincade
NICK LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BACK
Nick Sirianni met with the media on Tuesday afternoon and inadvertently let us behind the curtain on the status going forward of Quarterback Jalen Hurts. He said that “we knew he couldn’t aggravate his injury any more by playing on Sunday” vs the Giants. I talked with an orthopedic surgeon yesterday afternoon and he read the tea leaves. What he told me was excellent news. In his opinion without knowing any inside information on the specific Hurts injury was that we should be very optimistic. He explained that IF the Eagles truly knew that Hurts couldn’t aggravate his injury any more by playing that it rules out that a hairline bone fracture or a tear of a muscle was keeping him out. Those two injuries could absolutely be re-aggravated. That leaves a severe bone bruise or similar injury as the most likely culprits that had Hurts miss the Dallas and Saints games.
My next question was what did that mean going forward and how much did having to play him on Sunday potentially complicate his status. I was assured that IF the facts are as presented yesterday the issue is just pain tolerance. We all know that Hurts is a tough guy and he was probably playing through considerable stiffness and soreness on Sunday. There is nothing that indicates playing Sunday will set him back and it might actually accelerate his getting back to normal. More rest, stimulus and heat therapy could be in order. Whether he meant to do it or not, Nick should have us all sleeping a little better tonight.
EAGLES COACHING STAFF IS ABOUT TO GET RAIDED
Yesterday on The Fanatic Anthony Gargano had an outstanding conversation with Jeff MacLane on the Eagles and the status of the 2 coordinators. Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steichen are both hot commodities with each having numerous NFL teams interested in hiring them. They are in the mix for various jobs and that could leave two major issues for the Eagles. One, having distracted coordinators heading into the playoff matchups. I understand both of these men are professionals and are expected to do their best. It is human nature that both would find themselves with split attentions, trying to put together a staff in case they are hired and concerns about relocation. All of these things clouding your mind while you are trying to win an NFC Title is troubling.
If either does get hired at seasons end it also then tests the ability of Nick Sirianni to recruit a top talent to replace them. Vic Fangio is out there and would be an excellent selection, but the problem is Sean Payton and Kyle Shanahan will both be shopping for new defensive coordinators next season. Does Sirianni have the clout to out maneuver either of those established Super Bowl coaches to land his guy? I’m skeptical. My guess is he would probably want to stay in house on offense but that would leave him with a coordinator who has never called plays in the past.
With success comes issues and these are the NFL’s “rich person problems”.
