Eagles Summer Over for Jalen Hurts, Attention Turns to Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' next action probably won't come until Sept. 10 when the team travels to New England to play the Patriots

PHILADELPHIA – Jalen Hurts wanted to keep practicing. Of course, he did. The quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles is a competitor through and through with an unquenchable thirst to keep getting better.

Hurts was denied that option, however, on Tuesday after the joint practice between the Eagles and Indianapolis Colts was halted when a brawl that broke out with center Jason Kelce pancaking Zaire Franklin, the Colts linebacker who was raised in Philly, well after the whistle.

The practice was halted about 15 minutes short of its scheduled run time.

“Obviously, (would have) loved to finish practice,” Hurts said. “We’ll learn from it.”

Learn what, exactly, Hurts didn’t say, though he gave a curt response when asked what head coach Nick Sirianni’s message was about the fight that ended the practice.

“It’s an in-house thing,” he said.

It's no wonder Hurts wanted to finish practice, though, since he will now likely go into bubble wrap for the next 18 days when the Eagles head to New England to open the season against the Patriots. That is unless he plays in the final preseason game on Thursday night against these very same Colts, something that isn’t expected.

And you know what, that’s OK.

Last year, there were some concerns about Hurts, whether he could be “the guy” in his second season as the starter. Even then, he played just eight snaps in the first exhibition game before being shut down.

This year, the Eagles obviously know what they have, and he hasn’t taken a single snap in the preseason outside of the three joint practices the Eagles had – two with the Cleveland Browns and the abbreviated one with the Colts.

While watching from the sidelines, Hurts said he remains in tune with what’s happening on the field.

“I’m just making the calls myself in my head and listening to the coaching points with the coaches on the headset with them,” he said. “Just learning. I’m a student when I’m in that mode. It’s very valuable.

“I think about all opportunities I’ve had when I come off the sideline and come off the bench and I always want to be prepared for those moments.”

Hurts has looked terrific in all but one or two of the Eagles’ 15 training camp practices that were open to be viewed by media and a hundred or so fans.

The connection he has with A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert already looks lightyears ahead of where the four players were last year at this same time. The back shoulder throws have been lethal.

“I think it’s just the work we’re putting in,” he said. “Nobody’s a finished product. We’re still working, we’re still evolving as players. That’s been our whole entire approach. We have new guys come in. You have guys go.

“The guys that come in, you want to build that chemistry with them – OZ (Olamide Zaccheaus), G-Ward (Greg Ward), (Josh) Jobe, all of those guys, (D’Andre) Swift, everybody. It’s all about building that chemistry and being able to trust one another when we’re on the field.”

The chemistry lesson is nearly over.

The two weeks after Thursday night’s preseason finale, attention will shift primarily to preparing to play the Patriots.

“As a quarterback, you obviously love when guys take advantage of opportunities when the ball is in the air,” Hurts said. “That’s always great to see from my vantage point.”

Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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