The Philadelphia Eagles were shut out 35-0 by the New England Patriots on Thursday night, and trouble for the Eagles began before the game even started.
Second-year quarterback Jalen Hurts was supposed to start the game for the Eagles, but he was a late scratch, despite looking fine to observers in warm-ups. The Eagles initially announced that Hurts was out due to an illness.
This was Jalen Hurts during pregame warmups and looked good
Eagles say he came down with an illness. Joe Flacco started pic.twitter.com/qttV7OG2MI
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) August 19, 2021
After the game, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said that Hurts was taken to a local Philadelphia hospital due to abdominal pain. Hurts apparently wasn’t feeling well when arriving at the stadium, but he wanted to go through warm-ups hoping he’d feel better and be able to play. And when Hurts still wasn’t feeling well after warming up, the Eagles decided to send him to the hospital to be evaluated.
Hurts is “fine” and “doing okay” now, according to Sirianni.
"For a guy like that to tell us… he's a tough guy, so it must have been hurting pretty good."@Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni gives an update on Jalen Hurts after he went to the hospital to get evaluated for pain in his abdomen. pic.twitter.com/6Y576WlUz9
— NFL Total Access (@NFLTotalAccess) August 20, 2021
Joe Flacco started in place of Hurts, and the veteran quarterback completed 10 of 17 passes for 83 yards and an interception in the loss.
The Eagles’ offense without Hurts showed why they really need Hurts in Week 1. Hopefully he’s indeed okay following Thursday’s health scare.
