Flattered Hurts shrugs off Dak comparisons
The Dak Prescott comparisons are nothing new for Eagles rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts appreciates the mention with Prescott, who he has known since the injured Cowboys quarterback hosted his recruiting visit to Mississippi State. Both are about the same size and mobile.
But the Texas-grown Hurt thinks there is only a piece of Prescott’s game in his style of play. Upon learning that the Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy viewed him as the second coming of Prescott, Hurts politely described who he should be compared to.
Spoiler alert: It’s a group thing. “I have a lot of respect for Dak coming in and doing the things that he’s done,” Hurts said. “I’m praying for a healthy recovery for him. I’ve always said that Aaron Rodgers, DeShaun Watson, Russell (Wilson), those guys as well, those are all a great group of quarterbacks that I love to watch play. I think there is a balance of probably all four of those guys you could argue. I just try to go out there and be the best version of myself.”
Hurts plans to be a little more specific when the Eagles (4-9-1) oppose the Cowboys (5-9) Sunday at AT&T Stadium, a 3½-hour drive from his hometown near Houston. You can count on his folks being there, as fans are allowed at Cowboys games. That includes his father, who coached him growing up.
“My dad has a different perspective on things now,” Hurts said. “My dad is very happy and excited for me to have come this far. He can honestly care less about anything win, lose or draw because his son is living his dream. He knows what I want to achieve. He knows the goals I have and he’s in full support of those things. I think just generally having a dad like him, a coach and all the different perspectives I can just reach out to him on life, not just ball. The conversations that we have, they are greatly appreciated.”
It doesn’t get any better than that for Hurts, who is 1-1 as a starter an undefeated in fighting off questions about whether he deserves to be the starter over benched veteran Carson Wentz. Drawing on his time at Alabama under coach Nick Saban, Hurts laughed while breaking out the wisdom of his first college coach.
“I try and stay away from the rat poison,” said Hurts, who completed his college career at Oklahoma. “You’ve got to ask Coach Saban. He knows a little bit about rat poison, too. It’s all external factors. I’ve talked about that a little bit. External factors are no good for us and what we’re trying to do as a team.”
A win over the Cowboys and a loss by Washington would mean the Eagles and Washington play for the NFC East pennant next week at the Linc. A victory Sunday could remind Cowboys fans of what they had in Prescott.
“You look at their skills sets, their ability to play both in the pocket and out of the pocket,” McCarthy said. “They both came from heavy quarterback run systems in college. Whether it’s the RPO’s or the zone read it was what they were asked to do. I’m stating the obvious. Jalen is off to a really, really, good start here the last 2 ½ games.”
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Sidelined after a concussion in last week’s game, Eagles punterholder Cam Johnston was held out of the indoor practice Wednesday.
The bubble isn’t the place to be if you’re light sensitive. On its best day it’s a disaster to kick in.
If Johnston is unavailable this weekend, kicker Jake Elliott would be the punter, tight end Zach Ertz the holder. A bad snap to Ertz by long-snapper Rick Lovato scuttled an opportunity for the Eagles to take the lead in what became a 33
26 loss to the Cardinals last week. “I thought Jake came in and did a really nice job being able to handle the punt situations,” Doug Pederson said. “I think where it really pertains maybe a little bit more is your extra points and things like that. Maybe you go for two a time or two more.
“There’s a plan in place, but I’m hopeful that Cam makes it through, and we get him for the game.”
Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (neck, rest), tight end Richard Rodgers (ankle), cornerback Kevon Seymour (knee) and defensive end Josh Sweat (wrist) didn’t practice Wednesday.
Sweat is out this week. Rodgers sounds iffy, and that, too, would be a blow to special teams as he helps get everyone lined up. Johnston had a punt blocked after Rodgers exited.
Wide receiver Jalen Reagor (ankle) and linebacker Duke Riley (biceps) were limited in practice. The
good news is cornerback Darius Slay is all the way back from a concussion.
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As Pederson does almost every week, he praised the contributions of center Jason Kelce, this week voted to his fourth Pro Bowl. A three-time first-team All-Pro, the
33-year-old Kelce could be in store for bigger and better things. Maybe the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
“I believe there’s a case for that,” Pederson said. “He’s a Super Bowlwinning center, he’s done a lot of great things in his career and I think he can be in the conversation for sure.”