Big praise from Judge, but Hurts isn’t listening
PHILADELPHIA » New York Giants head coach Joe Judge thinks the world of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Judge said on a conference call that Hurts – who the Giants oppose Sunday at MetLife Stadium – is influencing games at the NFL level the way he did during his record-setting days at Alabama and Oklahoma.
“This guy is a fierce competitor,” said Judge, who has followed Hurts since the quarterback participated in spring practices and training camps at Bama. “He’s really a winner. You can kind of see the way the team responds to him, the way it rallies around him. I saw a lot of that in college. Now in the league he really hasn’t missed a step. He obviously adds a dimension to their team in terms of the quarterback runs and the scrambles, the extended plays. But he’s a good passer down the field. He’s very calm in situations. And he does a very good job as far as getting that team to rally around him.”
High praise for Hurts, who has guided the Eagles (5-6) to wins in three of the last four games. A win over the struggling Giants (37) and the Eagles would position themselves as the NFC’s final wild card team, fluid as that laurel is with six games left in the season.
Hurts appreciates the good words. But he refuses to embrace them. Judge might as well have trashed Hurts because the second-year veteran wouldn’t buy into that, either.
Hurts considers outside praise, criticism and anything else that doesn’t come from within the locker room to be “rat poison.” Got that cute little metaphor
from Bama coach Nick Saban, who obviously made a lasting impression.
“I’ve seen the good, I’ve seen the bad,” Hurts said after practice Friday. “I’ve really learned how to block it all out. I couldn’t really care less about what’s being said out there. It makes no difference in how I prepare. It makes no difference in the ultimate goal in what it is for us and for me. I’ve learned to block it out over the years.
“Rat poison, to me, is something I don’t want to hear. I don’t want to hear the good. I don’t want to hear the bad. I control what I can and keep the main thing the main thing. I worry about my standards.”
The main thing this week is for the Eagles to play at least to the level of the 3.5-point favorites they are entering the contest.
The teams split the series last year, the Giants taking the second meeting 27-17 at MetLife. But the Eagles have won eight of the last nine games in the series, including three on the road. Cyclical as the series has been, the Eagles hold a slim 88-86-2 lead all-time.
Eagles head coach Nick “Rock, Paper, Scissors” Sirianni initiated a rivalry
board this season basically to highlight the NFC East series’ so important in shaping the season. Sirianni said the Giants board has four big screens next to each other that constantly play highlights from Eagles-Giants games of years past. Eagles highlights, that is.
The highlights that popped out at Sirianni are Brian Westbrook’s 84-yard game-winning punt return against the Giants in 2003, DeSean Jackson’s 65-yard walk-off punt return in December of 2010, and Chuck Bednarik knocking Frank Gifford cold with a tackle in 1960 at Yankee Stadium.
“Those are the three plays that really stick to my mind,” Sirianni said. “There are a lot of good plays on that. I don’t want to leave anyone out. … I don’t want to sound like too much of a nerd either because I looked at all that stuff, too.”
The clip Sirianni didn’t mention was the original Miracle of the Meadowlands in which Herman Edwards returned a botched handoff between Giants quarterback Joe Piscarcik and running back Larry Csonka and rolled 26 yards with 20 seconds left for a TD and an Eagles victory.
If those highlights were shown by anyone but Sirianni, they could be construed as rat poison. Instead, they are food for thought for a young Eagles team still
growing an identity.
• • •
The Eagles ruled running back Jordan Howard (knee) out and cornerback Tay Gowan (quadricep) questionable for the Giants.
Cornerback Darius Slay was a full participant in practice Friday and confirmed he wasn’t feeling symptoms from a concussion sustained last week. Look for him to start Sunday.
Linebacker Davion Taylor is out indefinitely after knee surgery.
The Giants will be without the services of fullback Cullen Gillaspia (calf), wide receiver Sterling Shepard (quad) and tight end Kaden Smith (knee).
Tight end Kyle Rudolph (ankle) and wide receiver Kadarius Toney (quad) are doubtful. Questionable are running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) and wide receiver John Ross (quad).
• • • Giants running back Gary Brightwell has been lighting it up on special teams this season.
The 5-11, 215-pound sixth-round pick out of Arizona has local ties as he hails from Chester and also played football in Delaware.
Brightwell has just one carry for four yards yet clearly is a favorite of Judge, a special teams coach in years past.
Asked about Brightwell
and his Delaware past, Judge quickly set the record straight.
“First off, he claims Chester a lot more than Delaware,” Judge said. “So, he definitely has a lot more of that Southeastern Pa. to him. But I would just say in general Gary is a guy we brought in as a developmental running back. He’s doing a good job developing as a running back in this league. This guy has really good vision. In terms of being a blocker and pass protection he really understands the big picture schemes. He does a good job in our receiving game. He runs crisp routes, he has good hands, he has good instincts. As a runner behind the line this guy gives you versatility because he runs strong with some power and also has some elusiveness in space to get around the corner if you need to.”
Brightwell’s future clearly is ahead of him. For now, the coaching staff appreciates the way he’s taken to teaching. Brightwell hasn’t played less than 57 percent of the special teams snaps all season on coverage teams for the Giants.
“He’s making an impact for the team right now in the kicking game,” Judge said. “He’s earning the respect of his teammates and he’s starting to earn the respect of the league as well. “