Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Jalen Hurts suffered a shoulder injury two weeks ago against the Chicago Bears, and that led to him missing Saturday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. Ahead of that game, though, Hurts said there was “definitely a chance” he would play. While he didn’t play Saturday, there’s a chance he plays this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, although that’s far from certain at this point. But questions about Hurts’ health and healing did lead to funny comments from Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni at a press conference Wednesday.
Last Tuesday, Sirianni praised Hurts’ recovery and said he had a chance to play Saturday, saying he “heals fast” and “his body is not like ours.” Here’s what he specifically said there:
“I’m never going to put a timetable on anybody,” Sirianni said. “I know you will always try. I’ll never put a timetable on him. He has a sprained shoulder, and I don’t put anything past [QB] Jalen Hurts as far as his mental and physical toughness. There’s a chance he could play this week.”
“He is one of the toughest guys I know, and he heals fast. He’s a freak. His body is not like – pardon me – yours or mine. I’m shaming myself there a little bit, too. His body is not like ours. He heals fast. He came back fast from his injury last year, and I will not rule him out, will not put a timetable on him, and we’ll see. We’ll see what happens this week. He’ll be ready to go if he can play this week, and so will [QB] Gardner [Minshew].”
At a press conference Wednesday, a reporter asked Sirianni for more on that “heals fast” front, and got quite the response:
.@JalenHurts is built different 🤷♂️#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/GAyrQsAWh9
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 28, 2022
“If you and him went out and shot baskets together, he’d whup you. If you guys went out and raced against each other, he’d whup you. If you guys went out and, let’s see, tried to throw the football to see who’s more accurate, or further, he’d whup you. And so, his body heals faster than you.”
NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano added some further context around this, including the reporter bringing up a super hero and Sirianni also mentioning age and diet:
Reporter: What is it with this Hurts "heals better" stuff? Is he some super hero?
Sirianni: "If you and him went out and shot baskets together, he'd whoop you."
"His body heals faster than you."
"He's younger than you. He probably eats better than you."
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 28, 2022
On one hand, Sirianni absolutely has a point that Hurts (or any NFL player, for that matter) likely has more speed, athleticism, and overall fitness than any reporter. (Former NFL players turned analysts might be in the conversation, but yeah, Hurts would be favored to win a physical contest against most reporters. “Heals faster” is maybe a step beyond that, and not necessarily a proven one, but there is at least a probability that NFL players have some edges when it comes to injury recovery and/or playing through pain versus the average reporter.
But where Sirianni’s comments seem to go a bit wrong here is with the discussion of Hurts relative to the reporter. Yeah, Hurts is likely more athletic than the reporter in question. Maybe he’s also able to “heal faster.” But that’s not really the question, and that’s not really what’s under discussion here; it’s not how about Hurts heals relative to the general public, but how he heals relative to established NFL injury timelines. And pointing out that he’s fitter than a particular reporter doesn’t really say anything about that one way or the other. Sirianni listing the ways Hurts “would whup you” is entertaining, but it’s not really saying much on if Hurts will be able to return to play this week.
[Philadelphia Eagles on Twitter]
