Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
All appears well in the City of Brotherly Love. Recently, after a week in which rumors swirled about discontentment in the Eagles locker room due to the team’s sometimes-meager passing game, star quarterback Jalen Hurts delivered one of his best games of the season. He led Philly to a 27-13 win against the in-state rival Pittsburgh Steelers, who were previously 10-3.
Hurts completed 25 of his 32 passing attempts for 290 yards and two touchdowns, and he added another 45 yards and a touchdown in 15 attempts on the ground. His 290 yards through the air were his second most of any game this season, behind only his 311 yards in a September win at New Orleans.
“The approach was a little different this week. The grass will be green where you water it. We decided to water it and saw the fruits of our labor in that,” Hurts said about the Eagles’ passing game. “Obviously, we’ve been watering the running game a good bit. It’s natural to put emphasis on one thing and take emphasis off of another and see what you guys have seen. We want to continue to be well rounded, push to be well rounded, and water all areas of our yard.”
Hurts’ extended metaphor was in reference to the wide disparity between Philadelphia’s offensive production in the running game and its offensive production in the passing game. Led by the addition of star running back Saquon Barkley in free agency this offseason, the Eagles ranked No. 1 in the NFL for yards per game on the ground. By comparison, they were No. 28 in passing yards per game.
Hurts, who also revealed he had a broken ring finger on his left non-throwing hand, is focused ultimately not on what others expect him to be but on who God has made him to be.
“I really lean on [God] and I try to keep Him in the center of everything I do,” Hurts said in a press conference before the Super Bowl in 2023, “because I know without God, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without having that faith in Him, without integrity and leadership and diligence and all those things. I think the biggest thing is you get so influenced by so much around you, you just want to pray that you’re the person that God calls you to be. So that’s what I’m gonna do — be what God called me to be.”
“I’ve found that the plane gives me a lot of time to take a deep dive in Scripture, and then go back on my week of notes and the game plan for the opponent,” Hurts said. “Those things are very important to me, and I feel like you have to intentionally pursue them to continue to build wisdom.”
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The Eagles went on to win playoff games against the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angelos Rams. They will face the Washington Commanders this weekend in the NFC Championship Game. The Commanders upset the Detroit Lions over the weekend to advance.
Hurts appeared to injure his knee during the win over the Rams on Sunday after taking a sack in the third quarter. He wore a brace on that knee the rest of the game, and simply said “I finished the game” when asked by Melissa Stark if he was OK.
According to Ian Rapoport, it doesn’t appear to be a “major” injury. He may be limited in practice this week and he said it could be an “awkward, tense” week but he expected Hurts to play.
Two years ago, Hurts did a video with GQ in which he talked about his daily devotional and his journal.
“I’m a man of God,” he said. “Waking up every morning and having a routine where I can gain some wisdom, learn His Word, and just walk by the Spirit, I strive to do that daily. And I challenge myself to spread that Word organically.”
“I’ve just matured and realized that God is everything, and He’s worthy of praise,” Hurts told CBSSports.com in September 2022. “You have to put Him at the center of everything that you do. That’s what I believe. All my spiritual wisdom — all of my wisdom as a whole — comes from Him, in some way, shape or form. … I just think, in all the things that we experience in life — good, bad or indifferent — you have to keep Him at the center.”
–Sportsspectrum.com and Metro Voice staff –Photo: wikimedia-Share Alike 2.0
