Jalen Hurts admitted “it stings” after he endured a miserable night against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Hurts had five turnovers as the Philadelphia Eagles slumped to a 22-19 overtime loss in Inglewood, including one in OT that handed the Chargers a vital win.
“I didn’t play well enough. Too many turnovers,” Hurts said. “Lots of opportunities, especially when we get on the other side of the 50 and I wasn’t able to get us in the box.”
The worst moment for Hurts was in the second quarter when he threw an interception to the Chargers’ Da’Shawn Hand, who fumbled and handed it back to the quarterback who promptly lost it again after being hit.
The double error meant Hurts was the first player to commit two turnovers on the same play since 1978 when data collection began.
“It definitely stings,” Hurts said. “But how do you respond? That’s the only way I know how to look at it. You’re going to see what type of resolve does this team have, what’s in us to respond the way we want to. We’ve just got to dig.”
Sirianni backs struggling Hurts
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he would look at ways of helping his main man.
“This game is the ultimate team game. It’s never just on one person,” Sirianni said. “Ultimately, he always has the ball in his hands and I know he’ll wear a lot of that and own that, and I’ve got to do a better job of helping him in those scenarios.”
There is no plan to remove Hurts from the QB position.
Sirianni added: ”We’ll stay the course. We’ll just keep grinding it out and get ourselves out of this little hole that we’re in.”
Harbaugh hails hero Herbert
It was a tale of two quarterbacks with Hurts’ struggles in direct contrast to the heroic efforts of the Chargers’ Justin Herbert, who was a constant threat on the ground just a week out from hand surgery.
Herbert ran for 66 yards on 10 carries with three resulting in first downs.
“He’s a superhero. He’s a competitive maniac,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He was even stiff-arming guys with a broken hand, he had surgery a week ago… It felt like we were in a movie and you get to the point where you go, ‘OK, this is getting a little bit unrealistic.’
“It’s inspiring. I wish I could just throw my body on the line. I wish I could take those hits for ‘em.”
Asked to rank this win against others in his long career, Harbaugh added: “I put it in the discussion with the birth of my seven children, my marriage. In the conversation. Just joyful, joyous.”
The win moved the Chargers to 9-4 and they remain second in the AFC West.