Philadelphia Eagles, Jalen Hurts Could Be Missing Key Part of Micah Parsons Plan vs. Dallas Cowboys

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is dealing with a bone bruise in his knee and the team scaled back his responsibilities in the run game last week at Washington.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles have had a lot of success against Dallas Cowboys All-Pro defender Micah Parsons, at least compared to the rest of the NFL.

The gifted Parsons is the definition of a game-wrecker but has shared just one sack in three career games vs. the Eagles with All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson given most of the credit for slowing the superstar down.

Parsons, though, is a player Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will move around everywhere from off-ball linebacker to toggling on the edges and even lining up over the A gaps as an interior rusher, something that could come into play Sunday afternoon if rookie Tyler Steen starts at right guard when the 7-1 Eagles try to hold serve against a 5-2 Dallas team at Lincoln Financial Field.

It has taken a village from Philadelphia to keep Parsons under wraps, and despite some trash talk from the Eagles fan base, coach Nick Sirianni and Co. are smart enough to allow sleeping dogs to lie.

“He's awesome. He's really outstanding,” Sirianni said of Parsons this week. “One of the best players in our league. And so, we'll have to make sure he's accounted for every single play because I think that's really the only thing I can say about him, is that he's awesome.”

The Eagles’ cocktail for dealing with Parsons starts with the obvious, arguably the best offensive line in football led by Johnson and fellow All-Pro center Jason Kelce.

The other aspect to somewhat stifling Parsons is a sentiment that Sirianni learned from his college coach at Mount Union, Larry Kehres – if you can’t block someone, read them.

Jalen Hurts’ impact as the so-called plus-one in the running game manipulates spacing and puts defenders in conflict with an ability to pull the football and threaten the backside, at least when the quarterback is healthy.

Hurts is not 100 percent right now and is dealing with a bone bruise in his knee, something that clearly limited the fourth-year signal caller on the ground at Washington last week when Hurts ran it only four times for six yards.

If Hurts is unable to create conflict in Parsons with his presence in the run game, things become exponentially more difficult when it comes to handling Parsons.

“We have really good players up front, too,” Sirianni said. “We'll have to win a lot of different ways against him to make sure that he stays out of the stat book and stays relatively quiet. But that's easier said than done because of how good of a football player he is.”

On Friday the Eagles had two different bodies in red No. 11 pinnies, trying to somewhat mimic Parsons' presence. Offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark was tasked with the physicality and former pass-rushing star Connor Barwin with the savviness and technique headed to the quarterback.

Eagles practice squad OT Le'Raven Clark was one to at least two Micah Parsons looks at practice :: John McMullen/Eagles Today

“We spent a lot of time thinking about that specific player,” Sirianni admitted harkening back to the days he was an assistant with the Chargers and the AFC West was loaded with elite pass rushers

“... The Raiders had Khalil Mack and they had Bruce Irvin and the Chiefs had Justin Houston and Tamba Hali. I'm remembering all these because I spend a lot of time thinking about them,” Sirianni said. “The Broncos had DeMarcus Ware and they had Von Miller. And each week you'd have to go in and spend a lot of time on Tuesdays, Mondays and Tuesdays, thinking about that.”

In Week 5 this season it was the Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron Donald.

“When we played Aaron Donald, a lot of our day was devoted towards Aaron Donald,” the coach said.“

And that's standard operating procedure when it comes to the NFL's top defenders.

"... That's what you do with any good player in this league, you've got to think a lot about them," Sirianni said. "You've got to think a lot about them. You've got to think about them more than their loved ones think about them. And that's our job as coaches to make sure we're putting the players in position to succeed.”

Donald, though, didn’t have a supporting cast like Parsons currently does, particularly players like Demarcus Lawrence and Osa Odigizuha.

"There are so many different guys in the league that rush the quarterback and are definitely disruptive, so you just have to be ready to handle that," Hurts said.